To ask the First Minister and deputy First Minister (i) which Department will be taking the lead on the implementation of the findings of the High Street Task Force report Delivering a 21st Century High Street; and (ii) whether local councils have also been consulted.

The scope of the High Street Taskforce Report recommendations lie within the responsibilities of a number of departments.

On 10th October we wrote to Ministerial colleagues at the Departments for Communities, Economy, Finance and Infrastructure, noting our view that a cross-departmental working group should be established of the relevant departments along with local councils. We therefore asked them to consider the recommendations of the High Street Task Force report and determine the way forward, bringing matters to the Executive for consideration as necessary.