Give 'em what they want, and they will come?

So the Government has finally woken up to the fact that town centres are failing - and have been failing for years - as places to go to shop.  They have commissioned a report to come up with ideas as to how this can be rectified.  I think in many cases we are too far down the road to have any realistic chance of turning back, but here's an idea - replace local business rates with a local business tax based upon turnover.  This would give local councils a vested interest in seeing that local businesses prosper.  At present, they get the business rate irrespective of how well or badly the business is doing.  It might make them think more about their responsibility to provide things like adequate parking facilities at reasonable charges - the lack of which in my opinion is one of the major factors in people not going into town to shop.