Analysis: How do the Grimsey and Portas reviews compare?

Town centre organisation

• Grimsey: Point number 3 - Establish a Town Centre Commission for each town with a defined skill base and structure to build a 20-year vision for each town supported by a broad business plan in five-year chunks.
• Portas: 1 - Put in place a “Town Team”: a visionary, strategic and strong operational management team for high streets.

Both reviews call for a body in each town to lead the rescue of their high street. Portas originally called for volunteers in the area, while Grimsey believes it is necessary to have skilled professionals from the area to put a 20-year vision in place.

Parking

• Grimsey: 17 - Make it easier for motorists to shop by building in a two hour free high street and town centre car parking system to the overall business plan for the location.
• Portas: 9 - Local areas should implement free controlled parking schemes that work for their town centres and we should have a new parking league table.

Both reviews agree that free car parking is necessary to attract people into the centre of town but Grimsey does not mention a parking league table.

Out-of-town retail

• Grimsey: 23 - Evaluate the future of out-of-town shopping parks and prepare a plan to bring unwanted space back into use to benefit the community.
• Portas: 15 - Introduce Secretary of State “exceptional sign off ” for all new out-of-town developments and require all large new developments to have an “affordable shops” quota.

Portas’ controversial “exceptional sign off” recommendation was not taken up by the Government. Grimsey isn’t specific on how he wants to bring space back into use and what the threat to out-of-town retail parks have on town centres.

Business rates

• Grimsey: 7- Reintroduce immediately the 2015 business rates revaluation to realign property values and freeze business rates from 2014.
• Grimsey: 8 - Once revaluations have taken place any future increases should be an annualised consumer price index (CPI) inflation rate rather than a one-month snapshot.
• Grimsey: 9. From 2017 revaluations must be conducted annually.
• Grimsey: 12 - The business rates system needs a root and branch review to establish a flexible system that will reflect changes in economic conditions as they occur.
• Portas: 8 - Make business rates work for business by reviewing the use of the retail price index inflation rate with a view to changing the calculation to CPI

Grimsey goes further in his calls for an overhaul of the business rates system, and calls on the Government to reverse their decision to delay the business rates revaluation by two years. Both Portas and Grimsey agree that switching the calculation from RPI to CPI is key.

Empty shops

• Grimsey: 21 - Landlords of empty shop units should be required to apply for a change of use and make the asset productive in the community as housing, health, leisure, culture or education facilities in line with the town plan.
• Grimsey: 10 - Any business occupying a retail property in the retail core of a town centre that has been vacant for 12 months should receive 50% rate relief for two years
• Portas: 19 - Explore further disincentives to prevent landlords from leaving units vacant
• Portas: 12 - Address the restrictive aspects of the ‘Use Class’ system to make it easier to change the uses of key properties on the high street

Both Portas and Grimsey believe that the change of use class system could be used effectively to prevent empty units on the high street and they recognise that landlords play a key part in stopping empty shops. Grimsey speaks about incentives to new tenants who take on long-term empty units, Portas does not.

Planning

• Grimsey:15 - Connect planning applications to the business plan for each town and ensure that developments fit within the criteria set.
• Portas: 11 - Government should include high street deregulation as part of their ongoing work on freeing up red tape
• Portas: 25 - Promote the inclusion of the High Street in Neighbourhood Plans

Both Grimsey and Portas believe there needs to be a joined up approach to planning for the town centre and town as a whole. Grimsey outlines the recommendation that the business plan for the town centre comes first with planning applications fitting around it. Portas’ recommendation infers the opposite. She also urges the Government to cut planning red tape.  

Pilots

• Grimsey: 30 - Implement the Town Centre Commission process through five trials to test the methodology, information requirements, modelling techniques and viability of the whole process including public consultation.
• Portas: 28 - Run a number of High Street Pilots to test proof of concept

Both reviews agree that trials are important for the success of the recommendations. There are currently 27 Portas Pilots in operation, while Grimsey calls for just five.