{"text":[[{"start":6.6,"text":"The British high street is more than just somewhere to shop or have a coffee; town centres are a barometer of prosperity and local pride. Places that felt “left behind” were more likely to vote Leave in 2016, and many have since been fertile ground for Nigel Farage’s rightwing populist Reform UK. Little wonder that as Andy Burnham tours Britain as new prime minister, his promise to regenerate town centres comes up often. But many previous efforts have failed. Can Burnham do any better?"}],[{"start":35.55,"text":"The drivers of high street decline are deep-rooted and complex. The 1980s rise of out-of-town retail parks and edge-of-town superstores, diverting sales from town centres, was compounded 20 years later by the online shopping revolution. Debt-funded buyouts of some retail chains, particularly where freeholds were sold and leased back, left businesses carrying heavier debt and long-term rent liabilities — limiting room to invest as sales came under pressure. Retailers have also faced other sharply higher costs, from the energy price shock and rising minimum wages to a long ratcheting up of business rates, plus the Starmer government’s rise in employer payroll taxes. "}],[{"start":78.25,"text":"Changes to shopping habits make it unrealistic to expect retail to return to town centres on the scale of 40 years ago. The aim must be to turn high streets into community hubs adapted for the 21st century. That means a mix of decent-quality shops, entertainment, leisure and “experience” venues, business and office space, housing and facilities such as post offices and the neighbourhood health centres planned by the NHS. Surplus retail space needs to be repurposed, or even demolished."}],[{"start":109.65,"text":"Burnham’s plan to devolve more powers to local authorities and use public money to pump-prime urban renewal projects — spreading the model he used as mayor of Greater Manchester — offers some promise. Local leaders often have the best idea of what might work and regeneration depends on integrated transport and access. But leaders need viable visions and the capacity to realise them. And reviving one of Britain’s biggest city centres is different from turning around a deprived satellite town."}],[{"start":139.3,"text":"At Westminster, probably the most useful thing Burnham could do is go further with Labour’s 2024 manifesto commitment to reform business rates, to level the playing field between physical and online retail. Before becoming prime minister, Burnham floated raising rates on online distribution hubs to fund a cut for hospitality venues. But big retailers protested that this would raise their online costs too. A 20 per cent business rate cut for pubs, social clubs and music venues is instead to be paid for by reviewing reliefs provided to “anti-social businesses, such as vape shops” that clog many high streets, and other measures."}],[{"start":177.3,"text":"Burnham wants to give councils more control over new vape shops and betting premises, and the government is cracking down on rogue high street businesses linked to tax evasion and organised crime. But if no other businesses want the space, blocking new vape stores or gambling arcades could just mean more empty shops. So a wider rethink of business rates to make locations more viable remains key. A levy on online retail sales to help lower rates on bricks-and-mortar premises is one option, but tricky to design without penalising multichannel retailers. Some economists favour a tax on commercial site values instead — shifting the tax burden to freeholders and rewarding property investment — but governments have balked at such a huge administrative change."}],[{"start":226,"text":"Yet turning round high streets also needs consumers with money to spend — so is inextricably bound up with the Burnham government’s ability to deliver on two of its stated priorities: tackling the cost of living and boosting economic growth. Without success in those, the boarded-up shops will be hard to shift."}],[{"start":251.75,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1787118598_4882.mp3"}