ABOLITION OF REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES
Victoria Stewart
Each year, the ACES North East Branch gives a cash prize to a suitable essay submitted by a student from the School of the Built and Natural Environment, Northumbria University. As in previous years, the standard was high and is a credit not only to the students, but also the staff. Set out below is an abridged and version of the 2011 prize winning essay by Victoria Stewart. The paper looks at the implications for physical regeneration in England in the light of the abolition of Regional Development Agencies and their replacement with Local Enterprise Partnerships?
Economic Benefits of RDA Physical Regeneration Projects
The eight RDAs outside of London spent approximately £5billion on physical regeneration projects since 1999 (National Audit Office, 2010) however the economic benefits of these projects will take a long time to realise. The NAO (2010) predicted that RDA spending will go on generating additional Gross Value Added for many years to come, as long- term physical regeneration projects reach their fulfilment and premises constructed on derelict land continue to generate income and improve a local area. Independent evaluation by PwC (2010) estimates that total generated Gross Value Added from physical regeneration could be nearly £9 billion.
Prioritising Regeneration Activities during the Current Economic Difficulties
The NAO (2010) reported that approximately 15 per cent of RDA’s physical regeneration projects involving the private sector had stalled or slowed because developers have been unable to obtain finance or simply are uncertain over what will happen. This pattern is not uniform across the whole of the UK, for example the NAO reported that there had been an increase in demand for start-up premises in the East of England from people wishing to start up their own businesses after being made redundant. RDAs have had to prioritise regeneration activities and concentrate on those they feel will benefit the regions the most.
For example, the transformation of the Birmingham New Street Station, part funded by Advantage West Midlands, will have significant benefits for the wider region, transforming the area into a visitor landmark for Birmingham and acting as a catalyst for future physical regeneration in the area. By making this project one of the RDAs priorities in turn it is
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estimated it will generate £2billion in economic benefits and create 10,000 jobs (England's RDAs, 2010). In reprioritising their spending, RDAs have also had to make cuts. For example South West RDA had to abandon the redevelopment of derelict Westmoreland House in Bristol after their budget was cut by £56m.
Abolition of RDAs
On the 29th June 2010 Vince Cable and Eric Pickles sent a letter to Local Authority and Business Leaders outlining their plans to replace Regional Development Agencies with Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), inviting them to return their outline proposals from partnerships of local authorities and businesses no later than the 6th September 2010. LEPs are joint local authority-business bodies brought
forward
by Local Authorities to promote job creation and business development. The Government believes that LEPs, ‘will be better placed to determine the needs of the local economy along with a greater ability to identify barriers to local economic growth’ (BIS, 2010).
A major concern is about compatibility and coordination between different Local Authorities and their linking to area- based strategies. 57 proposals were originally submitted to government for consideration and of those, around half are based on single county boundaries. This leads to doubts as to whether different parts of the country will be able to collaborate to achieve best use of spending with regards to physical regeneration. If derelict land straddles the boundary between two LEPs, who will be the one to bring it back into use? Who will resolve tensions between competing projects? There is also great uncertainty as to what powers LEPs will have and resources available to them.
On the 28th October 2010 government announced the first wave of 24 partnerships that were ready to move forward and establish their LEP boards. Those that where proposed in the Governments White paper are shown in (HM Government, 2010). These were followed by a further 13 partnerships (see CLG LEP and EZ map). Some LEPs overlap, shown by hatching; other areas have no LEP coverage.
Regeneration and Planning
The Local Growth White Paper (HM Government, 2010) confirmed that LEPs would not influence on planning and regeneration as strongly as RDAs. Their focus will be on promoting economic growth and job creation, with the Home and Communities Agency (HCA) having a continuing role, at the request of local authorities and under local leadership, to provide resources and expertise to support housing and physical regeneration.
It appeared that LEPs were to take a back seat when it came to future physical regeneration, until the Chancellor, in his pre-budget statement, announced the designation of new Enterprise Zones in 11 LEP areas in England, four locations of which were named in the vanguard. This was swiftly followed by an invitation for all remaining LEPs to bid for a further 10 EZs. The new EZs are to benefit from business rate discount worth up to £275,000 per business over a 5 year period; simplified planning by way of Local Development Order powers or Simplified Planning Zone; retention of new and additional business rates within the zone by the local area, to be invested locally, and introduction of superfast broadband (see EZ
THE TERRIER - Autumn 2011
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