Topic Lifecycle: Dormant
This topic is currently dormant in the news cycle. It was last covered on Friday 9 October 2026 and has not appeared in recent broadcasts.
Coverage trend (last 30 days)
How much coverage this topic got from each channel over the past month.
On screen
Stills are sampled automatically at 60-second intervals. Where shown, the still is the nearest available frame from the relevant broadcast segment and is included to show what was on screen during that part of the broadcast. A still may not correspond to the exact second of a quoted phrase.
Recent stories
The latest story timelines linked to this topic, newest activity first.
What was reported
A plain summary of this topic, built from the channels that covered it.
The UK government has announced plans to give local councils more powers to control the opening of vape and betting shops on high streets. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said town centres have been hollowed out by decades of decline. The proposals would change planning rules so these businesses require planning permission, allowing local communities to object. The plans have received criticism from opposition parties, with the Liberal Democrats saying they are not ambitious enough, and the Conservatives and Reform warning they could lead to more empty shops. The coverage also included research linking derelict high streets to vape shops and political shifts.
Key Claims by Channel
| Claim |  |  |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Widely reported · 4 or more of 5 channels | |||||
| New measures would require vape shops to obtain planning permission before opening. | Not reported by BBC One | Reported by BBC Two | |||
| Reported by a few · 2–3 channels | |||||
| The government will consult on scrapping the 'Aim to Permit' rule to make it easier for councils to reject betting shops. | Not reported by BBC One | Reported by BBC Two | Not reported by ITV | ||
| Closure orders for businesses linked to organised crime would be extended from six to twelve months. | Not reported by Channel 5 | Reported by BBC Two | Not reported by ITV | Not reported by Sky News | |
| Andy Burnham said town centres have been hollowed out by decades of decline. | Not reported by BBC One | Not reported by BBC Two | Not reported by ITV | Reported by Sky News | |
| The Conservatives and Reform say the plans might lead to more empty shops. | Not reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by BBC One | Not reported by BBC Two | Reported by Sky News | |
| Only on one channel | |||||
| A YouGov poll shows Labour has its highest voting intention since July 2025. | Not reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by BBC One | Not reported by BBC Two | Not reported by ITV | |
| The Liberal Democrats say the plans are not ambitious enough. | Not reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by BBC One | Not reported by BBC Two | Not reported by ITV | Reported by Sky News |
| Research from Power to Change shows areas with derelict high streets are more likely to have vape shops and voters switching from Labour to Reform. | Not reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by BBC One | Not reported by BBC Two | Not reported by ITV | Reported by Sky News |
| The announcement was shaped by the BBC's reporting. | Not reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by BBC Two | Not reported by ITV | Not reported by Sky News | |
| Around 1,000 raids on shops have occurred since the last report. | Not reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by BBC Two | Not reported by ITV | Not reported by Sky News | |
| Some of the announced measures had already been announced by the previous government. | Not reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by BBC One | Reported by BBC Two | Not reported by ITV | Not reported by Sky News |
| The government will introduce new laws to make it easier for police to close vape shops for longer. | Not reported by Channel 5 | Reported by BBC One | Not reported by BBC Two | Not reported by ITV | Not reported by Sky News |
| Councils will get more powers to stop new vape and betting shops opening. | Not reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by BBC One | Not reported by BBC Two | Not reported by Sky News | |
| A business owner said small businesses need more support. | Not reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by BBC One | Not reported by BBC Two | Not reported by Sky News | |
This is a cross-channel consensus summary, not an objective account. Consensus can be uniformly wrong, or omit what only one channel covered.
Timeline
Where this topic appeared. Cells show coverage time and are darker when there was more coverage.
| Date | Channel 5 | BBC News | BBC One | BBC Two | Channel 4 | GB News | ITV | Sky News |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday 9 October 2026 | — | — | — | — | — | 12m 18.9% | — | — |
| Tuesday 11 August 2026 | 2m 46s 8.3% | — | 3m 25s 3.8% | — | — | — | 2m 38s 2.4% | 4m 4s 8.7% |
| Monday 10 August 2026 | — | — | — | 15m 39s 54.2% | — | — | — | — |
| Friday 7 August 2026 | 2m 33s 6.7% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |