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Mr. Steen: My hon. Friend is, as usual, making a very powerful speech, for which we are grateful, but I think that he needs to deal with one point. He is going down the track--successive Governments have gone down it, as has been apparent in all the projects--of thinking in terms of injecting funds into bits of the inner or outer city. I was talking about creating an entirely new climate in which cities will regenerate themselves, rather than about pushing in bits of money to create an action area here or a rejuvenation or regeneration there. Although I support my hon. Friend's argument entirely, could he deal with that matter too?
Mr. Woodward: My hon. Friend makes an important point, on which he expanded at length in his speech. He is also quite right. However, that matter is not the report's fundamental tenet, as that wonderful new Labour document is all about going to the Chancellor for money--or going to the taxpayers and finding new ways of fleecing them to pay for regeneration. The
report is not about enabling individuals to be free from the planning miasma that has developed, and it will be interesting to hear whether the Minister has anything to say about that.
I ask the Minister: what will be the report's fate? As The Independent recently inquired:
"But action? For all his bluster, it is hard to point to many of the Deputy Prime Minister's achievements. This is either Mr. Prescott's chance to show his worth, or, more likely, the final proof that nothing concrete will emerge to help our inner cities without a change of minister."
12.12 pm
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Mr. Nick Raynsford): I congratulate the hon. Member for Totnes (Mr. Steen) on raising this issue and, above all, for his tenacity, over a long time, in expressing his concerns about the importance of urban regeneration.
The hon. Gentleman mentioned his own two books on the subject--"New Life for Old Cities" and "PLUMS"--and, rather wistfully, commented that the first of them was published 17 years ago, when he found himself preaching in the wilderness. I am sorry for that, but, hope that, as I make my speech, he will realise that the Government are committed to pursuing policies designed to give effect to many of the ideas that he has expressed. Although I cannot accept all those ideas, many of the views that he has expressed today and in those books chime very closely with the Government's approach to regeneration.
The urban task force's report has attracted great interest, and I very much welcome hon. Members' comments on it today. The report has been widely welcomed, and the welcome that has been extended to it outside the House has been reflected in the comments made today by hon. Members on both sides of the House. I add my congratulations to my noble Friend Lord Rogers and all his team on a very comprehensive and detailed analysis of one of the most crucial issues confronting our society.
The hon. Member for Totnes mentioned London's relative success, but some northern cities--such as Manchester and Leeds and others--have also shown relative success. The nub of the issue is that, although some urban areas are successful, in past decades others have suffered serious decline. There has been an exodus from inner cities, driven by a lack of confidence in schools, fear of crime, an unhealthy environment, economic setbacks--such as loss of industry--and poor housing. One of the key challenges facing us is to make Britain's towns and cities not only fit to live in but thriving centres of human activity in the broadest sense, comprising economic and social activity, and other activity enticing people to move to and live in those locations.
The Government are trying to promote new thinking in reaching that objective, which is why we asked Lord Rogers and his team to undertake the study. The task force was asked to consider the reasons for urban decline and to recommend how to breathe new life into urban areas.
The task force's report was published on 29 June, setting out its vision for the future of our urban areas. It called for well-designed, more compact and better connected cities that support a range of diverse uses
within a sustainable urban environment, with good transport links, and within a framework that is adaptable to change. We welcome the task force's broad vision and the various forward-thinking recommendations in its report.
It would be premature now to provide a full response to the task force's specific recommendations--of which, as all hon. Members will know, there are more than 100--as they merit detailed consideration. However, we shall be doing that in the next few months, before we publish a White Paper on urban policy.
The hon. Member for Witney (Mr. Woodward) and others have asked when the White Paper will be produced. The Deputy Prime Minister has made it clear that we shall be producing it within the next 12 months. As it will be the first urban White Paper for 20 years--and should be prepared thoroughly and carefully so that it addresses all the issues--we are not committed to a fixed publication date. It would be a mistake to rush out a White Paper simply to give a quick response on an issue that really does merit thought and care.
We have, however, been able to respond immediately to one of the task force's recommendations--to create urban regeneration companies. The day after publication of the task force's report, my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Regions, Regeneration and Planning launched the "Liverpool Vision". As the hon. Member for Totnes, in an earlier life, represented a Liverpool constituency, I am delighted that the city of Liverpool has benefited first from the Government's response to the task force's recommendations.
We also have invited a proposal for a second pilot, in east Manchester. We expect early results from the pilots to provide valuable information to feed into the urban White Paper and to provide a model for similar urban regeneration companies in other towns and cities across England.
The urban White Paper will deal with the challenges that must be met if we are to secure an urban renaissance. We must have cities that are prosperous, sustainable and socially cohesive, and offer attractive living and working environments. The urban White Paper will provide a framework showing how policies can be integrated effectively to achieve those objectives.
The task force rightly emphasised that there is no single solution to the problems faced by urban areas: we have to deal with economic, social and physical problems as a whole. The hon. Member for Totnes spoke, perfectly reasonably, about the limitations of local authorities' ability to achieve on their own a turnaround of urban areas. Although they have an important contribution to make, their contribution must be part of a wider partnership--and there must be the full engagement of the business sector, the voluntary sector and local communities. It must be a broadbrush and holistic approach.
I also noted that the hon. Gentleman mentioned the achievements of some American mayors. It is an interesting issue, as it suggests that there may be models of local government that may be more successful than others in helping to galvanise those partnerships and creating impetus for change. He will be aware that the Government are seeking to promote innovative thinking
in local government on how best to meet the challenges facing local authorities. He will also know of my own role in creating a framework for London where there will be a directly elected mayor who we hope will perform exactly the role of acting as a leader for London, bringing together all the parties and helping to galvanise London in various ways.
Mr. Steen:
I take the Minister's point, but the problem in London is the candidates.
Mr. Raynsford:
I shall make no comment on that.
Planning is an essential tool in turning the vision for urban areas into reality. The hon. Member for Totnes rightly focused on planning issues, in which he has shown particular interest over the years. The Government have started work on modernising the planning system and welcome the overall direction proposed in the task force's planning proposals, many of which reflect our "Modernising Planning" initiative.
There is widespread support for our policies from a surprisingly diverse range of bodies, including the Confederation of British Industry and the Council for the Protection of Rural England. A recent CPRE press notice said:
We have already taken several steps. "Planning for the Communities of the Future" marked a break with the past and set out our objectives for an urban renaissance. It signalled a departure from the days of "predict and provide" in planning.
The hon. Member for Totnes mentioned the transfer from the previous arrangements to the current ones. That must be handled in an orderly way, taking into account the fact that structure plans and local plans in different parts of the country differ in their preparedness, but we are making that transformation. PPG3, which the hon. Gentleman mentioned, is an important part of that process.
"The Government's new planning policies begin to put teeth into its commitment to protect the countryside and revitalise the towns. They should have a significant impact on the geography of new building and help to contain urban sprawl."
I quote that press release, bearing in mind the comments by the hon. Member for Witney, who used several selective figures, combined with a certain amount of political bluster, to imply that all the problems have arisen in the past two years and that nothing that went on in the previous 18 years, when the Conservatives were in government, contributed to the problems. A brief study of history will reveal that the impact of economic decline during the recessions of the early 1980s and early 1990s, and of the "let it rip" development mania of the 1980s, in which developers were encouraged to develop wherever they wanted--green-field site or not--entirely gives the lie to his extraordinary claim that the problems are associated with the present Government. I am not making a party political point when I say that we are seeking to deal with problems that have a long history. We are seeking to tackle them in ways that genuinely address the economic, environmental and social problems, to try to ensure a more sustainable and better basis for future planning.
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