The Scrutiny Review Panel - District and Local Centres - best practice and building upon it met on Monday 4 November 2024 to discuss how to gather information on best practices for supporting district and local centres. The panel was scheduled to consider updates from members who had visited district centres and to propose questions for local business owners. Additionally, the panel was to review a report outlining examples of best practice from other local authority areas.

Update from Panel Members on District Centre Visits

The panel was scheduled to receive updates from members who had undertaken visits to various district centres. The purpose of these visits was to gather the views of local business owners. This feedback was intended to inform the review on best practice and to identify potential strategies that could be replicated to enhance the vibrancy of other district or local centres across Stockport. It was suggested that members be provided with a set of possible questions to guide their conversations with business owners during these visits.

Proposed Questions to Local Centre Business Owners

As part of the evidence-gathering phase for the review, members were scheduled to engage with local centre business owners between 4 November 2024 and the meeting on 11 December 2024. The aim of these discussions was to ascertain what support local centres might benefit from, with the questions being informed by the feedback received during the district centre visits. The panel was requested to suggest ideas for these questions, ensuring they reflected the insights gained from the earlier visits. The report pack included a document titled Questions to district centre business owners ¹ which outlined the aim of the survey and provided example questions.

Examples of Best Practice

A report from the Director of Place Management was scheduled for consideration, outlining an approach to collating best practice from other areas. The report detailed how the Institute of Place Management (IPM)², which is part of Manchester Metropolitan University³, has been involved in assessing district centre performance and identifying areas for improvement. The IPM is also responsible for running the High Street Task Force⁴, established to support communities and local government in transforming their high streets. The report highlighted that the IPM has recommended areas such as Bristol City Council⁵, Lincolnshire County Council⁶, and Warwickshire County Council⁷ as having made positive interventions to create thriving high streets. The panel was asked to agree which members would participate in best practice meetings with other local authority areas and to suggest other areas that may have attractive and well-supported district and local centres for review.