As more evidence emerges about the ongoing decline of our town and city centres and pressure on local authority budgets continues, civil society has once again been identified as an important partner in helping to support the future vitality of local places. But how much capacity has civil society got in order to be able to absorb the increased demands on its financial and human resources?

The Government's recent proposals on high streets is a case in point. As figures published last week suggested, high street closures have increased by nearly 14% across the UK with the level of openings declining over time. Across the North of England, there have been nearly 250 net closures during the first six months of 2018.