I was in Yeovil town centre on Monday to see how shops were getting on with reopening and was so impressed with the positive and practical measures local businesses are taking to get back on their feet. There has never been a tougher period in modern retail and yet even with the restrictions and social distancing still in force shops were reopening and using hand sanitiser, clear signage and other methods to give people the confidence to start enjoying the experience again.
I also saw a new shop in the Quedam Centre which looks great – Dive Academy has lots of good summer gear as well as some serious diving equipment and brilliant courses. They could have opened in easier times but things will get better and I hope they do well for many years to come.
Getting our local economy firing again is a top priority for me at the moment. Through the last few months it has been more clear than ever that what can seem like quite dry areas, topline numbers, Treasury policy, JobCentre support, have a very direct line to people’s lives day-to-day and our hopes for the future. Just two months ago there was a real and justifiable fear that the NHS would become overwhelmed and that would have had huge and terrible consequences. Now that threat has receded and we must rebound strongly to limit the effects on people’s lives in other ways.
Much of the on the ground response to Coronavirus issues is being coordinated through Local Authorities and I have had regular meetings with them to see what issues I can take forward with central Government. At the start of the week I had a virtual meeting with Local Government Minister Simon Clarke to look at these and other projects. I raised the COVID cost and income pressures on our local councils and welcomed the substantial extra funding already granted. I also highlighted that further help may be required and we pledged to work together on looking at further funding opportunities with the Treasury.
We discussed town centre regeneration plans and that we want to encourage and incentivise local councils to invest alongside central Government in the Towns Fund and Future High Streets Fund projects. We also discussed how we can increase intensification of redevelopment and activity within town centres themselves to transform the feel of them in a positive direction, and how changes to planning and licensing regimes will be coming forward in the near future to support this.
There have been concerns that the South West is lagging behind other areas in getting our rate of transmission, or R number, down. Whilst this is not something to take lightly, it does seem that because the number of cases here has been relatively low, any local outbreak does have more of an effect on the R than it would in some other places. When looking at the ways in which we can reopen our tourism and hospitality industries we must never be complacent but I hope that we can make some changes here soon.
As always, if I can be of any help please do email me at marcus.fysh.mp@parliament.uk or call 01935314321