Tesco and Primark have not been given any grant money for projects in High Wycombe, the leader of Conservative-run Buckinghamshire Council Martin Tett has said.

Tesco is downsizing its town centre superstore as part of plans to relocate the Bucks archives from their cramped current storage at the council’s Walton Street offices in Aylesbury to the floors above the Wycombe supermarket.

Tesco has renegotiated a shorter lease with the council, which owns the building, meaning the company will occupy a refitted ground floor only, with the upper levels freed up to house the county’s treasure trove of historical records, maps and photographs.

Meanwhile, Primark is moving its store to the Eden Shopping Centre so its current home at the Chilterns Shopping Centre can be freed up for Dandara Living to develop the site for hundreds of new apartments.

The council has helped fund both these projects with a grant it received from a central government pot called the Future High Streets (FHS) Fund, which is supposed to be used to ‘renew and reshape town centres’.

READ MORE: Wycombe Tesco to close to relocate Bucks archives

Earlier this month, Wycombe’s Labour MP Emma Reynolds questioned whether the council’s use of FHS monies was appropriate and suggested that the local authority had actually ‘given’ Tesco and Primark some of the cash.

Cllr Tett denied her claim this week, saying: “Neither Tesco nor Primark have received Future High Street Fund money from the council.”

Writing in a letter to the Bucks Free Press this week, the council leader defended the authority’s uses of the £11.8m FHS cash it received for High Wycombe, which the authority has matched with a further £3m.

He described Tesco and Primark as ‘critical high street anchors’, crucial to attracting shoppers to Wycombe.

The council leader also hailed the relocation of the county archives to Wycombe, saying the move would open up a ‘valuable collection’ to the public.

He added that the council’s plans to regenerate the town were ‘widely consulted on’ under the former Wycombe District Council and had ‘needed business cases and central government sign-off’.

Cllr Tett’s remarks come after Reynolds raised several concerns with the council chief over the use of FHS monies at the beginning of August and again invited him to meet with her and councillors in Wycombe to discuss the matter.

In emails to him, she wrote: “Can you clarify please how much taxpayer money has been given to Primark and Tesco for the purposes outlined in your letter?

“How much taxpayer money is being spent on re-allocating the archives? How does this align with the stated purpose of the Future High Streets Fund to renew and reshape town centres and high streets to drive growth?”

The MP referred to a July letter in which Cllr Tett confirmed which projects the council had spent FHS cash on.

This included acquiring and refurbishing several unlettable properties in the town centre and other smaller projects such as putting up new lighting in the dingy undercroft of Wycombe’s listed Guildhall.

This week, Reynolds said that she ‘remained concerned’ about how the council was spending taxpayers’ money granted by the government through the FHS Fund.

She said: “Local people often raise with me concerns about High Wycombe high street which is crying out for investment and this fund should be used to give it the renewal it so desperately needs.

“Back in July, I asked Martin Tett, the Council leader for a meeting to discuss my concerns. I also asked him some detailed questions about the Council’s decision to allocate the Future High Streets Fund and have questioned whether this is the best use of public money.

“I am still waiting for his response to my detailed questions and for confirmation of a meeting.”

The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, which oversees the FHS Fund, has been approached for comment.

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