Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate her Department has made of the number of empty retail units in town centres; and what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing new (a) grants and (b) funding streams to encourage small businesses to occupy vacant spaces.

The commercial vacancy rate is 13.3% in England and 16.2% in the West Midlands. This government is committed to tackling high street vacancy and supporting small businesses. On 4 March, we launched the Plan for Neighbourhoods, a £1.5 billion investment to help revitalise local areas and fight deprivation in 75 places across England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. We also introduced High Street Rental Auctions (HSRAs), a power to auction the lease of persistently vacant commercial properties. This is backed by a fund of over £1 million to help local authorities implement these measures. Our Small Business Strategy, to be published in due course, will set out how we intend to further support small businesses on the high street and beyond.