'Portas Pilots' towns to trial high street review recommendations

The winning bidders will each be awarded a share of £1 million to help implement their proposed blueprints by testing out the concept of Town Teams.

Housing Minister Grant Shapps has offered the cash incentive to those towns that come up with the best high street blueprints that fulfil the first and last recommendations of Mary Portas' High Streets Review, commissioned by the Prime Minister and published before Christmas.

The Portas Review was an independent review into the future of UK high streets by Mary Portas and was published on 13 December 2011. Portas made recommendations on what can be done by Government, local authorities and business to help high streets deliver something new.

"I am thrilled that now there is an opportunity to turn my recommendations into reality by giving communities across the country the opportunity to come forward with their vision for breathing new life into their locality," said Mary Portas. "I want the first 12 Town Teams to challenge the old ways of working, experiment, take risks and reaffirm their place at the heart of a community."

The Portas Pilot towns will each create a 'Town Team' to implement their proposals. A Town Team will be made up figures from the local community, including the council, local landlords, shopkeepers and the local MP.

"I want to see how these Town Teams plan to try new things, experiment and ensure that their high streets and parades become destinations for local people want to be. We want to learn their lessons and help communities across the country breathe new life into their own towns," said Shapps.

The recommendations of the Portas Review aim to get town centres running like businesses, by strengthening the management of high streets through new 'Town Teams' and by developing the Business Improvement District (BID) model and encouraging new markets.

The review also looked at the business rate system and how it could better support small businesses and independent retailers and how to encourage affordable town centre car parking and other opportunities to remove red tape on the high street.

Grant Shapps will give the full Government response to the review by the Spring.