3 Benefiting local residents
21. The Department has set out an ambitious vision
for the Thames Gateway to be a world class region with unrivalled
locations for living and working. The quality of housing developments
is currently below expectations, however, with only 17% of schemes
in the South East assessed as 'good' or 'very good' by the Commission
for Architecture and the Built Environment. The Department is
attempting to encourage better development and has established
a target of 50% of Thames Gateway homes to be rated 'good' or
'very good' by 2010, but it has few direct levers. Public sector
bodies are trying to raise the overall quality of developments
in the Thames Gateway by investing in key sites. They hope to
raise the overall level of development in the Thames Gateway so
that the market will develop to a high standard as a matter of
course.[22]
22. The Regional Assemblies estimate that the 160,000
new homes will bring an additional 350,000 people to the Thames
Gateway. The Department has established a target of 180,000 new
jobs to be created in Thames Gateway based on the amount of available
land in the Thames Gateway that will be used for commercial purposes.
The Department does not know how many of the new jobs will go
to existing residents and how many will go to the 350,000 inward
migrants. There are no processes in place to encourage the recruitment
of existing residents to new jobs, although the Department is
working with the Learning and Skills Council to improve the general
skills levels across the Thames Gateway to make existing residents
more economically competitive.[23]
23. Investment in the Thames Gateway is likely to
lead to increases in land and house prices. There is a risk that
local residents may be priced out of their local community if
insufficient affordable housing is provided. The Department has
recognised the need to increase the levels of affordable housing
and this is a key requirement of planning permissions for key
sites such as Barking Riverside and Ebbsfleet Valley. The Department
is waiting until after the Comprehensive Spending Review to determine
a Gateway-wide affordable housing plan.[24]
24. Local Authorities and other service providers
will need to be provided with the resources to cope with the 22%
increase in population that the new homes will create. The Department
told the Committee that they were working with the Office for
National Statistics to ensure local government funding better
reflects projections of future population. Local Authority funding
is currently allocated on the basis of current population and
prior trends in population growth which do not fully take into
account recent migration. The Department said that the new formula
would be in place nationally from autumn 2007.
25. The Committee received a number of submissions
from local Members of Parliament complaining about the Department's
lack of parliamentary consultation. The Department have met the
Thames Gateway parliamentary group on a six monthly basis, but
this has not been sufficient for all local MPs to feel engaged
with the programme. Local constituency MPs would be able to act
as effective champions of the programme and help make the case
across Whitehall, whilst also providing an effective route into
community consultation and engagement.[25]
22 C&AG's Report, paras 1.1, 4.16, 4.18, Figure
23. The 17% figure refers to the whole of the South East including
the Thames Gateway, and is considered representative of development
in the Thames Gateway. Back
23
C&AG's Report, paras 2.3, 4.8; Figure 7, footnote 13; Qq 29-35 Back
24
C&AG's Report, Appendix three, para 17; Qq 107-108 Back
25
Qq 64, 84-90, 131 Back
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