Marcus Jones, the Member of Parliament for Nuneaton and Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Town Centres, is leading a call amongst backbench MPs to secure a parliamentary debate on the future of town centres.

The call follows the Mary Portas Review, which the Government commissioned in response to the concerns about the state of high streets and town centres throughout the UK, which have struggled to cope with out of town shopping centres and the popularity and convenience of shopping online.

During the Review, Marcus convened a meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group which was heavily attended by MPs of all parties to give their views to Ms Portas.

The Government is expected to provide a response to the Portas Review in early spring and Marcus believes the time is right for MPs to be able to debate the review prior to the Government’s response being published.

Marcus and a number of other backbench MPs attended the Back Bench Business Committee to put their case for a debate in backbench time.

Commenting on the issue, Marcus said: “We are calling for a parliamentary debate to take place given the huge importance these issues have to every town and city throughout the country.

"The Mary Portas Review attracted significant media attention and promoted some very interesting ideas. Members of Parliament now need to be able to debate these issues prior to the Government’s formal response being published.

“I know that many MPs are concerned about the town centres in their constituencies and we need to ensure that the views of the public are heard through their representatives in Parliament.”