The low-down from the National Regeneration Summit

Yesterday regeneration practitioners gathered at the Business Design Centre in Islington, London, for the annual National Regeneration Summit. Full coverage of the event can be found on our Regen.net website but, in the meantime, here are a few comments from speakers who took part in a panel session that focussed on 'how to deliver regeneration in an age of localism'.

Iain Tuckett, group director, Coin Street Community Builders - "There is undoubtedly a need for support for communities to help them get more involved in [the localism agenda], as currently, there are major questions of capacity within the voluntary and community sector."

Lord Shipley, member of the independent advisory panel for the Regional Growth Fund (RGF) and former leader of Newcastle City Castle - "At the moment the idea is to have two bidding rounds with a third round for 'slippage'. But my feeling is that the RGF will have to be extended beyond its three year lifespan and I very much hope that the government will look at this. [Read our full news story on this]

"The ball is very much with local authorities in terms of making local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) work. So I think there is a danger that geographical areas will not pull together in the interest of their sub-regions.

"Youth unemployment is a massive issue for me. I remember the 1980s and I do not want a repeat of them.

"I have a great fear of 'nimbyism' resulting from localism. It’s one thing to give neighbourhoods more power, but quite another to give them control over planning and housing decisions in their area."

Tony Burton, director, Civic Voice - "Are communities really being let in on the big decisions – that is the million, billion pound, strategic decisions? I don't think so."

Chris Brown, chief executive, Igloo Consulting - "The Localism Bill, as far as planning is concerned, has been written from a rural point of view, requiring the existence of district councils and so on, and [the reforms introduced in the bill] might not work so well in urban areas.

"I also have some questions about where any available public money will go. It seems to me that, through the coalition's policies, there will be some very big winners and some very big losers. The winners will be those areas that are already quite attractive to investors, and where there are development opportunities, meaning that many areas that are in serious need of regeneration might miss out."

The coalition and regeneration - one year on

In the same week that the the coalition Government marked its first anniversary, the communities and local government select committee was hearing evidence on the Regeneration to enable growth policy paper, which we reported on in February.

One witness, senior research fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research North Katie Schmuecker, said of the paper: "If the document is meant as a strategy, it is weak. It reads rather more like a collection of government policies and the way they may apply to some deprived places." Another, chief executive of the Centre for Local Economic Strategies Neil McInroy, also told MPs that there was a lack of strategic direction in the Government's regeneration policy.

Against that somewhat gloomy backdrop, Colin Marrs examines the coalition's record on regeneration and economic development in its first year.

Policy Replacing regional development agencies with local enterprise partnerships
Verdict The Government chose to ignore robust evidence that the RDAs provided clear economic benefits to the regions, but there is no doubt that many local authorities welcomed the opportunity to take more control over economic development strategy. However, there are worries about a lack of effective coordination, and the LEPs may find themselves hamstrung by a lack of cash and powers. 5/10

Policy Establishing a Regional Growth Fund to help businesses affected by public sector job losses
Verdict The fact the fund was many times oversubscribed suggests that there is a pressing need for this cash. However, the overall fund - £1.4 billion spread over three years - is worth just a third of the annual budget for regional development agencies. There is little prospect of the fund assisting deprived areas in the South East. 6/10

Policy Establishing the New Homes Bonus to punish councils which fail to build new homes
Verdict An ambitious attempt to increase housebuilding through financial incentives rather than through the “top-down” targets so hated by Conservative ministers. Again, there are worries that the policy could lead to a lack of coordination, will fail to provide enough of an incentive to deal with the housing crisis, and will take money away from regeneration areas in the north to more affluent areas in the South. 4/10

Policy Establishing enterprise zones to promote business growth
Verdict It is too early to tell whether the zones will be able to make effective use of local development orders intended to prevent the problems caused in the 1980s and '90s. During this time, the zones’ low tax rates sometimes sucked business away from surrounding areas. Will the same mistakes be repeated? 6/10

Policy Producing a National Infrastructure Plan to guide investment in transport, energy and other utilities.
Verdict The document proves that the coalition understands the issues facing the country, but is less sure-footed when it comes to providing solutions. However, the document is a valuable first step in improving the UK’s infrastructure. 7/10

Policy Creating a Green Investment Bank to fund investment in carbon reduction technologies
Verdict Announced in the 2010 budget, Osborne tripled the government’s investment to £3 billion in his 2011 announcement. Critics pointed to the fact that the bank will not be able to borrow until 2015, although city experts claim that it will achieve more in the short term under the current arrangements. 8/10

Policy Investing £200m in a network of elite Technology and Innovation Centres
Verdict The announcement shows the coalition’s commitment to working towards a knowledge economy by investment in innovation. Some concerns over continued public funding and the effect on innovation if private cash dominates. 9/10

Follow Colin on Twitter at @yellercol

Pictured: The garden at number 10 Downing Street. Horticulture Week photo

Will the Regional Growth Fund deliver on jobs?

When the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (Bis) announced the winning bids for the frst round of the £1.4 billion Regional Growth Fund (RGF) last month, it also published estimates for how many direct and indirect jobs - through supply chains and so on - will be created in each region.

The coalition Government has already said it expects that some £2.5 billion of private sector investment will be levered in as a result of the £450 million made available in the first round of the fund.

Now, using the jobs estimates, it has also predicted that some 27,000 jobs, and 100,000 indirect ones, will be "created or safeguarded" through Round One RGF-funded projects across the country,

But Regeneration & Renewal has asked Bis how these figures were calculated. The department's response raises questions over whether the method used was robust enough.

A Bis spokeswoman said: "The jobs figures are based on the number of jobs that each bid suggested would need to be created, safeguarded or created indirectly in order to keep the project up and running - based on what the company or organisations believe the overall cost of the project will be (so not just the Government's share of investment but including private sector investment too)."

So, the numbers of jobs is based on the estimate contained in applications - so could feasibly be over-optimistic - and on how many jobs would be needed for that project in an ideal world, not how many would likely be generated.

However, she did add: "Because all the bids are now subject to due diligence, the final allocation of money hasn't yet been decided, so final job numbers are yet to be confirmed.

"The businesses have given us those figures based on their professional experience of running business, and the staff numbers they believe they will need to deliver the project efficiently."

If the RGF-funded schemes do create anything like the predicted level of new jobs, then the fund could well be considered a success on its own terms, but the Government is going to have to work out a stringent monitoring and evaluation process to assess whether the promises made in the bids are kept.