To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has for further Town Deals in addition to the (a) Towns Fund and (b) Future High Street programmes.

I am delighted that Blackpool in my Honourable friend’s constituency is one of the initial places that yesterday had its Town Deal offer announced for a transformative funding package worth up to £39.5 million. This Town Deal will help give a new lease of life to much loved tourist attractions as well as supporting the local business community to grow and thrive.

My officials are continuing to review Blackpool’s Future High Street Fund bid and I hope to make an announcement later in the Autumn.

In due course we will bring forward a further competitive round of the Towns Fund, building on lessons learned from the first Town Deals and Future High Streets Fund. We want to make sure that more places can benefit from investment that will improve our towns and high streets and drive long-term economic growth.