A commission to reinvigorate the North East’s struggling high streets is yet to launch – more than six months after it was meant to.
North East mayor Kim McGuinness promised in her 2024 election manifesto to assemble a high streets commission that would come up with new solutions to breathe fresh life into towns and villages plagued by empty shops.
The body was due to be formally established in February this year, after the mayor and the rest of the North East Combined Authority (NECA) cabinet pledged an initial £850,000 to set up the board and develop its initial priorities.
However, the commission is yet to be set up and its promised “high-profile expert co-chair” to work alongside the mayor has not been named.
NECA has previously said that the commission will “explore how retail, culture, housing, jobs and public transport can be embedded into places to help them thrive” and deliver a “blueprint for reform over the medium and long term”.
Ms McGuinness told a scrutiny committee meeting in Durham on Tuesday: “I have committed to establishing a high streets commission. We have had a huge amount of priorities and are delivering really quickly. We will establish that commission very shortly in year two [of the combined authority’s existence].
“Thay will be given the role of not just channelling amounts of investment into high streets, but thinking about what people really need near where they live. That will be different in different places.”
The mayor said that the commission would focus on “really big investment in the places that need it” as opposed to smaller grants, citing NECA’s £18.2 million commitment to kickstart the relocation of South Tyneside College into a new campus in the heart of South Shields.
She added: “What I am not for is small amounts of cash that don’t make enough of a difference in far too many places. I think we saw some of that with the previous government – £1 million here or a couple of hundred thousands there. It didn’t even replace the shutters on the shops.
“In the places that really need it, I want to see a big investment and a big focus.”
