Mary Portas, C4 show

The public has been invited to submit questions for Mary Portas to a committee of MPs

What would you ask Mary Portas if you had the chance? The Communities and Local Government committee of MPs wants to know.

The committee will quiz Portas in September on her review into the future of the high street, now 18 months old, and has invited questions from the public to be submitted by noon on Tuesday 30 July.

The committee is interested in hearing questions relating to the recommendations of the Portas Review, the government’s response to it, and the progress of pilots initiated as a response.

It is also interested in the impact that large out-of-town retail developments on town centres, and on views about Bill Grimsey’s alternative high-street review, which the former Wickes boss announced in June.

Questions should be labelled ‘Questions for Mary Portas’, and sent to clgev@parliament.uk as an attachment. The covering email should include the name and contact details of the individual submitting the questions.

Alternatively, questions can be submitted via Twitter using the hashtag #AskPortas. 

On 9 July the Department for Communities and Local Government published a report on the mixed progress of the Portas Pilots so far. Housing minister Mark Prisk said the pilots “are not and never were designed to be the solution to the high street”.