Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what provisions his Department enforces to ensure that local authorities take into account the needs of people with (a) visual impairments and (b) learning difficulties when redeveloping town centres.

We want to see thriving towns and high streets that are accessible to all. We set out how we will do this in the National Disability Strategy, published in July 2021.

In addition, our national planning policy framework and design guidance encourages local planning authorities to set out local policies and plans that aim to create places that are safe, inclusive and accessible. My department is also embedding accessibility within our criteria for how we design and allocate investment to local regeneration projects.

Round two of the Levelling Up Fund is currently open, with projects in scope including: accessibility improvements to local transport networks, the enhancement of infrastructure to help make town centres and high streets more accessible, and accessibility improvements to key cultural and heritage assets.