Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to help support (a) high streets and (b) town centres in South Shropshire constituency.

This Department is committed to support constituencies like South Shropshire grow their high streets and town centres. Our Plan for Small Businesses sets out how government will work across departments to tackle high street decline.

This year 500 towns including Ludlow and Bridgenorth developed local plans, as part of the Safer Streets Summer, to develop bespoke local action plans with police, businesses and local councils to crackdown on crime on the high street.

SMEs on the high street will also benefit from the new tools to unlock access to finance, action to address late payments and regulatory costs, improve digital adoption and create easier pathways to business support through the Business Growth Service.