High Streets Task Force Post-Programme: Findings

Parker, Catherine ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8072-269X, Barratt, Joeseph, Colledge, Matthew, Davis, Matthew, Graciotti, Alessandro, Kazakou, Afroditi Maria, Millington, Steve ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5143-3074, Mumford, Christine, Ntounis, Nikos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2517-3031, Roberts, Gareth, Sewell, Michael ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1211-055X and Steadman, Chloe ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1132-3502 (2025) High Streets Task Force Post-Programme: Findings. Project Report. Manchester Metropolitan University.

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Abstract

The High Streets Task Force (HSTF) was commissioned as an innovative response to the growing challenges facing the England’s high streets and town centres. Commissioned in 2019 by the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government, the HSTF was a consortium of thirteen partners, led by the Institute of Place Management at Manchester Metropolitan University. It was designed to bring together world-class research, expert knowledge, and targeted support to revitalise high streets across England. High streets have long been at the heart of local communities, yet they have faced significant disruption due to changing consumer behaviour, the rise of online shopping, and, more recently, the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Against this backdrop, the HSTF was created to tackle these complex challenges by empowering local authorities and communities with the tools, strategies, and expertise they need to drive sustainable high street regeneration. Process evaluation Tender compliance - HSTF successfully developed 91% of the products and services promised in the original tender. The adjustments due to COVID-19 introduced additional flexibility, such as shifting to online delivery and running more regular meetings with project partners and government, to provide evidence and insight for pandemic-focussed policy. Project timeframes - The project faced delays due to COVID-19, and other factors, which doubled delivery time. The average time to complete the program was 16-18 months, excluding the 6-month COVID-19 pause. To mitigate this, a 3-month extension was agreed upon in January 2024, resulting in a new project end date of September 30th, 2024. This extension allowed 135 local authorities to complete their support journeys, with 99% of products delivered by the end of September 2024. Satisfaction and product delivery - Most products scored between 4.25 and 4.45 on a 5-point scale, indicating that participants were satisfied or very satisfied. Outcome evaluation Success of expert recommendations - 79% of the recommendations made by HSTF experts were acted on by places, with restructuring of governance (39%) and reinventing activities (26%) being the most common. The Place Making Programme was the highest-rated initiative of the HSTF. Across England, 40 multi-sectoral workshops were conducted, with 532 participants giving the programme an impressive rating of 4.45 out of 5. For many attendees, it marked the first occasion where passionate place makers from diverse backgrounds came together. While the initial stages involved some challenges, including navigating differing viewpoints, these were effectively addressed. Thanks to expert facilitation, the workshops concluded with a shared understanding of the issues at hand and a clear action plan. This plan included a set of quick wins and was collectively owned by the group, ensuring commitment to its implementation.   Impact evaluation Impact on Local Authorities - From a sample of 80 local authorities that have completed the HSTF journey, 79% demonstrated increased capacity, but most of this capacity came from improvements in internal (67%) and external collaboration (59%), rather than partnership development, or the creation of new place management roles (6%) or place-based partnerships (14%). Statistical analysis revealed a significant relationship between the amount of HSTF support a local authority received and the level of capacity-building achieved, indicating that more intensive support (in the form of more HSTF products and interventions) was associated with higher capacity outcomes in local authorities. Legacy evaluation Despite the challenges of the pandemic the HSTF had a significant impact on policy, practice, and public perceptions and has uncovered some key challenges for future policy. • Partnerships and governance: HSTF demonstrated the benefits of effective place partnerships that leverage capacity and capability from the business and community sectors outside the local authority. • Place leadership and management capacity: The HSTF programme took an average of 453 days to complete, compared to the expected 270 days, with more deprived areas experiencing longer delays. These delays were primarily due to a lack of staff resources to engage with the programme. • Youth engagement: Young people were significantly underrepresented in high street transformation efforts, pointing to a need for far more inclusive engagement strategies to involve young people in place decision making. Only 1% of stakeholders invited to attend the Unlocking Your Place Potential meetings were under the age of 25. • High street experience and identity: Across England, the HSTF found high streets that had lost their purpose. Unattractive and unappealing, the HSTF initiative focused on implementing quick wins, enhancing the public realm, fostering local events and activities, and improving branding, marketing, and communications. Through implementing visible changes, and fostering a stronger sense of identity, the HSTF programme has showed high streets can become vibrant hubs for both community life and business activity. Conclusion and recommendations The High Street Task Force has had a demonstrable and positive impact on the revitalisation of England’s high streets. It has shown how a collaborative and structured approach to high street regeneration, underpinned by high quality research and independent assessment and advice, can lead to improvements in capacity, capability as well as high street performance. Four key areas—investing in place management and leadership, building inclusive partnerships, improving the high street experience, and fostering place leadership and hyperlocal governance structures —represent the inputs and activities that can lead to transformative outcomes for high streets, and which future policies should encourage.