Regeneration partnerships still not ‘joined-up’ enough, warn reports

A study of 27 different partnerships in England, Scotland and Wales argues that national policy, regional governance and the regeneration strategies for individual cities should be systematically linked to local action - ensuring that ‘top down’ and ‘bottom up’ initiatives will support each other.

The researchers from Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh and the University of Glasgow also conclude that:

• A concerted effort is needed to achieve the more active involvement of health trusts, the Employment Service, the Benefits Agency and police in regeneration partnerships. Business is also inadequately represented - only a minority of the study partnerships had effective business involvement.
• Partnerships should invest from the start in community development work to enable local people to make their voices heard and play an active part in the regeneration of their neighbourhoods.
• Modernisation in local government should be explicitly linked to regeneration. A clear corporate approach by the authority should be accompanied by decentralisation measures to promote local democracy and neighbourhood initiatives. Central government could promote new models of governance by making block grants to local government depend on a commitment to modernise.
• Better co-ordination is needed in England between Government Offices for the Regions, Regional Planning Guidance and Regional Development Agencies in setting the framework for local partnerships. Scotland and Wales need a more coherent regional development framework that sets the context for work by unitary local authorities.
• Central government should work towards a national policy linking urban and rural development with transport improvements and investment in infrastructure. Key objectives would be to promote economic development and jobs in major cities and to tackle mounting population pressures on the South East.

Professor Michael Carley, co-author of the report, said: “Despite thirty years of regeneration, we have not cracked the problem of deprivation in neighbourhoods and cities hit hard by industrial job losses. What is needed is joined-up action at all levels. We need a development strategy that links the objectives of key departments, promotes the Northern cities as much as London, and provides a modern transport and educational infrastructure.”

The role of Regional Development Agencies
A second study by researchers at the University of Manchester finds that the newly-established Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) in England are stamping a regional dimension into the thinking and structure of local agencies, but that their role remains confused:

• The Regional Economic Strategies that RDAs have published in the first year suggest their principal task is to sharpen economic competitiveness. Yet their budgets are primarily made up of ring-fenced resources for regeneration.
• An alternative view sees RDAs as part of moves towards regional government in England, equivalent to devolution in Scotland and Wales. However, the eight RDAs that have been established outside London have limited autonomy and their economic strategies are strikingly similar.
• RDAs have yet to establish good, working relationships with local regeneration partnerships, voluntary organisations and community groups. There is some suspicion that RDAs will find themselves caught in the middle between conflicting central and local priorities.

Professor Brian Robson, co-author of the report, said: “Judgements about RDAs are, as yet, bound to be premature. But there are already many ambiguities about their role within an evolving system of regional governance. This has led to a widespread, sceptical view that they may end up merely creating ‘partnerships of partnerships’.”

He added: “If regional governance is to become effective, it would seem that RDAs must show greater readiness to prioritise spending and to develop good relationships with local partners. In the longer run, central government would also need to show a stronger commitment to regional governance, including a timetable for the introduction of elected regional chambers.”