Business: Government Assistance

Mr. Don Foster
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how much of the £3 million fund for high streets adversely affected by the economic downturn has been (a) allocated to and (b) spent in each region;

(2) how many unused commercial premises have been taken over for community creative use since his announcement on such usage in April 2009.

Mr. Malik
There has been widespread interest in the “Looking after our town centres” guide, with nearly 9,000 downloads of the document since it was published in April. However, information on how commercial premises are being used is not collected centrally, as this is a matter for local authorities and their partners. An announcement will be made shortly on how the £3 million funding will be allocated.