Welsh Secretary Stephen Kinnock has welcomed new measures from Andy Burnham’s Government that will give councils, police and communities in Wales stronger powers to tackle betting shops, rogue businesses and anti-social behaviour on high streets.
Kinnock said people in Wales “deserve more from their high streets than betting shops and fronts for crime or anti-social behaviour” as he backed the Government’s package announced on Tuesday.
Writing on X, the Welsh Secretary said:
“I’m very pleased that Andy Burnham’s UK Government is taking action to change the law, to give local people and police more powers.”
The Government’s reforms are designed to reverse what Burnham has described as the “hollowing out” of high streets and give communities more control over the businesses operating in town centres.
For Wales, one of the most significant changes will be reform of gambling rules. The Government intends to scrap the Gambling Act 2005’s “aim to permit” principle, which has made it difficult for licensing authorities to reject applications for new gambling premises where statutory requirements are met.
The changes will therefore give Welsh councils greater scope to respond to local concerns about betting shops.
New powers will also help police and local authorities deal with businesses suspected of being fronts for criminal activity. Closure orders for rogue premises linked to organised crime will be able to last for up to a year, rather than the current six months.
However, some elements of the Government’s high street package apply specifically to England because planning is devolved.
Plans requiring new vape shops to obtain specific planning permission, restricting their location near schools and bringing adult gaming centres within tighter planning controls will not automatically apply in Wales. The Welsh Government would need to introduce equivalent planning changes.
That distinction means the package will have different effects on either side of the border, but Kinnock has highlighted the UK-wide measures that will strengthen Welsh communities’ ability to tackle gambling premises, criminal enterprises and anti-social behaviour.
The Welsh Secretary’s intervention comes as Burnham seeks to make high street renewal an early priority for his Government, combining tougher enforcement against criminal businesses with greater powers for councils and communities.
For Kinnock, the argument is that Welsh high streets should be places that serve their communities — and that local people, councils and police need the powers to act when they do not.
