Task Force ‘Experts’ have been appointed to help high streets evolve and respond to impact of COVID-19. The announcement will enable local authorities to receive free expert advice, mentoring and other help, funded by government, that can help them to evolve their town centres, progress local plans, bid for investment, and respond to the impact of COVID-19.
Experts Register
The new ‘experts register’ is the first of its kind in the UK – bringing together experienced professionals across a broad range of specialisms, from architecture to planning, to sustainable design, place leadership and civic engagement. The Task Force has recruited highly qualified experts from leading national bodies: Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), Landscape Institute, Design Council, and the Institute of Place Management.
These new High Street Task Force Experts, Mentors and Facilitators will deliver a range of services, including workshops with local authorities and communities to explore and build local visions, mentoring for place leaders, and bespoke advice to help councils tackle complex issues that are blocking progress.
High Streets Task Force
The Task Force has provided online support and resources for places since June 2020, focusing on COVID-19 response and recovery as well as longer term regeneration. Appointed Experts, Mentors and Facilitators will continue this work through a mix of remote and in-person delivery where appropriate, beginning in late 2020 with places selected by the Task Force based on local need.
In building the experts register, each body has identified a list of between ten and twelve areas of expertise which are represented by its membership. This approach ensures that towns are supported by those with specific expertise that are best placed to advise on their issues.
Professor Cathy Parker, Co-Director of the Institute of Place Management and Research Lead for the High Streets Task Force, said:
Our work with high streets has shown the vast range of strategic and practical issues that local authorities and other actors have to address, particularly after the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. There are the very current challenges of ensuring communities can use their high streets with confidence, providing appropriate support for businesses and other organisations. At the same time, place leaders are managing the evolution of centres so they become vibrant community hubs.
The Task Force recognises that it’s very difficult for one place to have all the answers to all these challenges. Our Experts, Mentors and Facilitators will help to build that capacity, providing expertise that’s really needed and simplifying the advisory landscape for places that are busy getting on with change.
Those appointed as High Streets Task Force Experts have at least 5 years’ experience and can demonstrate where they have helped solve similar complex place-based challenges relevant to their field. Experts, Mentors or Facilitators have all committed to the High Streets Task Force Charter which ensures high standards of professional conduct and ways of working.
Chris Wade, Director at the People & Places Partnership, who is amongst the newly appointed High Streets Task Force Experts, commented:
“I’m really excited about this opportunity to actively participate in aiding the High Street Task Force’s work. I especially looking forward to using my expertise to engage with key stakeholders who work in and use town and city centres to help understand what makes each individual place tick. It will be great to work alongside other specialists in ways that perhaps challenge some of the old conventions around town centres and their modern-day function”.
More Information
The High Streets Task Force is an alliance of place making experts that provides encouragement, tools and skills to help communities and local government transform their high streets. The High Streets Task Force is now providing support to local leaders in town centres and high streets in England. The Task Force’s website hosts a wide range of training, learning, and data insights, including the COVID-19 Recovery Framework to help places identify what they need to do now, as well as how to plan and build capacity for recovery.
High Streets Task Force also provides direct support to high streets that are assessed as high need, to help them build the capacity for transformation. This will be delivered over a four year programme and based around analysis of need at a local level, using criteria agreed with our funders the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
The Task Force will work directly with selected local authorities and place makers, including businesses, civic groups, and Local Economic Partnerships. This will be delivered over a four year programme and based around analysis of need at a local level. The Task Force will contact local authorities in the first instance to offer support, or in the case of the Developing Place Leaders course contact will be with LEPs.
