It is clear that our high streets will need to change to adapt to the internet so they can continue to prosper.

There is already great work being done by many councils to revitalise the town centres, but that effort needs to spread further and faster across the country.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution.  High streets are so much more than a place to shop and spend: they are the centres of communities.

To continue to thrive they must become the places where people live and work, where they take part in social and cultural activities, where they access public services and where they stay on into the evening for great entertainment.

There is an important role for local authorities to play in making this happen.

I recently chaired the Daily Telegraph's High Street of the Year competition which named the town of Deal as the winner.

Deal feels like the quintessential English seaside high street and with affordable and accessible parking. It is easy as well as enjoyable to visit.

Deal won because it has the right mix of shops and local businesses, which is a credit to the council's effective planning department.

Reviving the high street needs this sort of local ambition, imagination and initiative.  The ones that thrive are those that build up a strong partnership across the community so that businesses, the council and shoppers are all working together for their town.

As Deal and others demonstrate, success means working out what's right for each area, whatever their past difficulties and overcoming current challenges. We have seen this already with the creation of over 350 government-funded town teams across the country, leading the way in adapting their high streets to what their residents want.

And, we have brought leading businesses, academics and civic leaders together in the Future High Streets Forum to look at the challenges our town centres face and work with councils to build on what we have started.

The Government has done a lot to support high streets. In the Autumn Statement, we announced a billon pound package of support for our town centres including a 2% cap on business rate increases, a £1,000 discount for small local shops and a new tax relief to help bring empty shops back into use.

We also extended small business rate relief again for small businesses and retailers so councils don't lose the income. In April, we will cut national insurance for small employers and lower corporation tax again.

We are also changing the rules around unpopular and over-zealous parking practices which have cut down on spaces and forced many councils to push up prices.

The intention is to ensure that local authority parking strategies complement and enhance the attractiveness of our high streets and town centres.

Parking penalty reforms will seek to ensure that local authorities do not misuse their civil parking enforcement powers and keep the cost of living down.

We are advocating a less heavy-handed approach to parking enforcement and recommending that parking charges and fines should not be used to subsidise other areas of local government spending.

Our consultation runs until 14 February. It's a new year and a new start. I know there is a lot of great work already going on to revitalise our high streets and many councils are behind those plans.

Councils, other civic leaders and local business are best placed to take advantage of these policy changes and look to shape their high street for the future.

Energy, imagination and a willingness to work with local partners will make our high streets great places to visit and show what successful localism and real local leadership in action can do.