Supporting our high streets
I visited Kings Norton Farmers Market on Saturday.
The market hosts small business from the local area and Birmingham more widely. It is well worth a visit (and a chance to sample some of the best products from local traders).
Unfortunately, our high streets are suffering. This is particularly true of Northfield high street.
Northfield was denied a £11.4 ‘Leveling Up’ bid to revitalise the high street last year, despite raised expectations from the Conservative MP. All Birmingham’s bids were rejected in what the Birmingham Mail called a ‘huge blow’ for the city.
Simon Foster (pictured), Police and Crime Commissioner for the West Midlands, and I spoke to shopkeepers about Labour’s plans to lift our high streets by:
Tackling crime by investing in neighbourhood policing and making sure more shoplifting cases are investigated.
Setting fair rates for small businesses - we would scrap the antiquated business rates system and level the playing field with the internet giants.
Speed up late payments for businesses through new legal requirements.
Introduce new guarantees that face-to-face banking services will be available in communities like Northfield.
Give community associations a ‘right to buy’ disused and boarded up shopfronts.
Labour has an excellent candidate in the Northfield by-election - Esther Rai - and together we picked up casework around anti-social behaviour and flytipping.