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Get your free copy25 February 2019, 10:05 AM
- An investigation into town centres and high streets in 2030 by the Housing Communities and Local Government Committee, led by Chair Labour MP Mr Clive Betts, urges the government to take action to help ensure the high street's future survival
Part of the issue, the report stated, is that there is an “imbalance between online and high street retailers” and that a sales tax, an increase in VAT, an online sales tax and ‘green taxes’ on deliveries and packaging should be considered for change to “provide fast relief” to high street retailers.
The committee states that those on the high street are paying “more than their fair share” of tax, while online retailers could be contributing more.
Mr Clive Betts told press: “It is likely that the heyday of the high street primarily as a retail hub is at an end. However, this need not be its death knell. Local authorities must get to grips with the fact that their town centres need to change; they need to innovate, setting out a long-term strategy for renewal, reconfiguring the town centre and finding new ways of using buildings and encouraging new independent retailers.”
