Regional development agencies and the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill - Business and Enterprise Committee Contents


Memorandum submitted by RIBA

THE RIBA IN THE REGIONS

  The Royal Institute of British Architect's mission is to advance architecture by demonstrating the benefit of good design to society and promoting excellence in the profession.

  At a regional level, the RIBA engages in a number of activities and works in partnership with a range of stakeholders from the public, private and voluntary sectors. The built environment has a real and important influence on social and economic factors and as such the RIBA engages with a diverse range of stakeholders including built environment professions, local planning authorities, and other regional, sub-regional and local bodies with a remit for sustainable communities.

DESIGN, SPATIAL PLANNING AND THE ECONOMY

  Good design and architecture has a real impact on the economy and society with benefits to health, education, safety, employment and other socio-economic factors[212]

  As widely recognised, well designed places with high quality housing, accessible transport links, employment opportunities and other sound infrastructure such as educational and health facilities attract and retain people to cities, regions and localities. High quality and design and architecture is fundamental to this, aiding a good lifestyle and instilling a sense of civic pride.

ROLE OF RDAS IN DESIGN

  The RIBA welcome the Businesses and Enterprise inquiry into the role of RDAs and implications the SNR may have on that role. At the regional level, we want to see the RDAs take a proactive role and lead for design quality and further the links between spatial planning and the delivery of sustainable communities through:

RIBA recommendations

  1.  Design review at all levels. The RDA should explore (with partners) how to further the use of and development of regional and local design reviews[213] Local Areas Agreements (LAA) and Multi Area Agreement (MAA) initiatives should be subject to design review as are regional economic strategy initiatives. This will help ensure design quality is embedded at all levels and by local authorities.

  2.  Design champions on the RDA Board (a continuation of this role from the Regional Assemblies).

  3.  Consult and engage with local and regional built environment, design and other stakeholders/groups of stakeholders to inform policy and delivery.

  4.  Explore mechanisms to ensure local authorities embed design quality including:

    (a) design quality training for planning officers and members;

    (b) run local and sub-regional design review panels (as above);

    (c) ensure spatial planning and sustainable communities agenda is properly integrated at the local and sub-regional level. Ensure LSPs/Multi-Area Strategic Partnerships work collaboratively with planners (who have an understanding of design quality) through the process of developing LDFs.

  5.  RDAs to have a duty to consider design quality (similar to that of the new Homes and Communities Agency).

  The RIBA will explore the need for architects and other design professionals to work alongside planners in engaging with LSPs and for RIBA staff members to be part of LSPs themselves.

SUB NATIONAL REVIEW AND IMPLICATIONS ON THE RDA: OPPORTUNITIES

  The RIBA believe that there are positive implications for the role of the RDAs in championing and implementing design quality. There are clear opportunities and potentially huge benefits of integrating the remits of the Regional Assemblies (RA) and the Regional Development Agencies (RDA), not only for purposes of efficiency but also due to the interrelationship between economic and social progress and sustainability and the role that spatial planning must play in both these elements. We provide recommendations below for utilising such opportunities.

Spatial planning and community regeneration

  The RDA should take a lead in encouraging and supporting LSPs to engage with the process of developing Local Development Frameworks. There is a crucial link between the work of the LSPs and the outcomes in the LAAs and the work of planners and the outcome of the LDFs. If these links are successfully made, the strive for social and economic sustainability (as featured in the LAAs) will be properly supported and delivered by spatial planning (sustainable communities being fundamental to spatial planning[214]).

  Spatial planning is a key mechanism to tackling root causes of social problems. Examples of the links between the LAA outcomes (which should reflect the Sustainable Community Strategy objectives) and planning are[215]:

    —  LAA outcome: Health and Wellbeing. Planning Contribution: parks, recreation and sports provision, access to good and services, strong economies and access to employment, design.

    —  LAA outcome: Safer Communities. Planning Contribution: landscaping, transport, design.

    —  LAA outcome. Vibrant and Sustainable Neighborhoods. Planning Contribution: housing and design, transport, safe and green environments, school provision and design.

    —  LAA outcome. Economic Development. Planning Contribution: availability of employment sites and access, transport, housing design and location, energy provision, access to goods and services, social and environmental infrastructure.

    —  LAA outcome. Social Inclusion. Planning Contribution: housing quality, design and provision, transport, equal access to good and services.

    —  LAA outcome. Combating Climate Change. Planning Contribution: Transport, recycling, housing design and renewal, access to good and services, transport.

  For all LAA outcomes, good quality design of the built environment is crucial to their success.

  A collaboration between LSPs and planners will help ensure these issues are integrated and LSPs (and other stakeholders) are more informed by planning "evidence" with a spatial and environmental understanding for setting their objectives. Collaboration will help provide planners with a better understanding of other service-delivery agencies and objectives and reflecting this in local planning[216].

RIBA Recommendation

  6.  RDA (and GOs) to encourage LSPs to engage with the process of developing Local Development Frameworks—spatial planning being a delivery mechanism of LAAs.

  7.  RDA to support planners (with an understanding of design quality) to engage and work with LSPs/Multi Strategic Partnerships sharing "evidence" on planning issues and community needs.

Sub-regional- context

  We welcome the recognition in the SNR for sub-regional and intra-regional working. The Multi Area Agreements (MAAs) should form an important delivery mechanism. We believe these should also reflect and integrate spatial planning, a lead taken by the RDA (as discussed above).

  Planning at a sub-regional level is crucial if the national and regional strategies are to be effective[217]. The sub-regions have identifiable and distinct spatial dimensions—economic development and the city regions; housing markets and cross boundary supply; transport networks and the nature of travel to work. Aligning policy and implementation is crucial to reflect sub-regional dimensions, such as strengthening policy to ensure the adequate delivery of housing supply. Fundamental in improving the economic performance of sub-regions and city regions is the spatial planning and social dimension to strategies. We note here that successful spatial planning requires good quality architecture and design.

  Structures will need to be put in place to support local authorities and LSPs to work collaboratively. We believe that this should be formalised and support proposals to make this a statutory relationship. We would caution against a statutory relationship preventing flexibility and allowing for membership to expand and change.

  The consultation documentation Prosperous Places[218], made no mention of the duty to consider sub-regional work (as currently held by the RA). We believe that this duty should be transferred to the RDA.

RIBA Recommendation

  8.  We would like to see the RDA have a duty to consider sub-regional work. As part of this, RDA to support local authorities' collaboration at a sub-regional level.

SUB NATIONAL REVIEW AND IMPLICATIONS ON THE RDA: CHALLENGES

  For these opportunities to be realised (described above) however, the RIBA believes there needs to be certain factors in place that ensures representative, informed and accountable decision making and implementation. We give an outline of our concerns below and provide recommendations to address these.

Decision making and accountability

  It is essential that regional stakeholders (including the public) are able to influence the decision-making of the RDA. The integrated regional strategies must be properly informed to accurately reflect the regions—the people's needs, aspirations and lifestyles.

  The RDA, as proposed in the Prosperous Places consultation document, would essentially be able to choose whom to engage and listen to bypassing those it did not, being answerable only to the Secretary of State

  We have concerns that the role of the Local Leaders' Forum as envisioned would fail to provide scrutiny of the RDA and would not provide that crucial community engagement at that level.

Local Leaders' Forum

  With limited powers, the proposed LA Leaders' Forum will act only as a consultative group whose comments can easily be discarded. The Forum will have no statutory powers to scrutinise the work of the RDA as does the RA and as such the RDA will have little responsibility to engage with and listen to the Leaders' Forum.

  In addition, the ability to scrutinise is further undermined by local authorities being potential recipients of RDA funding.

  We believe that with limited powers and time constraints, the Leaders' Forum will be poorly attended, or fail to attract the necessary caliber of representative necessary to overcome its shortcomings.

Stakeholder representation

  Fundamentally, the proposed Forum also lacks the crucial component of stakeholder representation (the latter making up a third of the RA governance).

  Regional stakeholder groups are an important way to ensure a wider range of expertise informs the process of decision-making on a number of important and relevant issues such as housing, architecture and design, environment, engineering, equality, and employment. This will:

    —  help ensure that regional strategies take account of theses issues and the intricate disparities within regions as stakeholder organisations working close to the community are well placed to appreciate.

    —  aid strategic thinking by Local Authorities by raising understanding and awareness of these cross-cutting issues.

RIBA Recommendation

  9.  Proposals as described in Prosperous Places consultation document should be reviewed to ensure a forum is accountable, representative and influential.

  10.  The legislation should require the RDA to agree with a representative "forum" of stakeholders based on social, environmental and economic remits for sign-off of the intergrated regional strategy alongside the LA Leaders' Forum.

Stakeholder engagement

  While the importance of stakeholder engagement is recognised throughout the consultation document, and is to be welcomed, this needs to go beyond consultation and include influence, negotiation and agreement. How the RDA engages stakeholders will need to be determined in agreement with stakeholders themselves.

RIBA Recommendation

  11.  The RDA will need to undertake a process of understanding the stakeholders in the region and explore with them how best to engage them in meaningful ways

  In addition, there is a need for a collective voice for stakeholders. Regions benefit from the ability of stakeholder representative groups to identify cross-sectoral interests and where possible resolve any apparent differences of view before engaging with regional agencies such as the RDA. Whilst this does not prevent the different sectors from engaging the RDA separately, it increases efficiency in the overall stakeholder engagement process. The RDAs will need to recognise and support the development of existing stakeholder groups (including those currently linked to the RAs).

RIBA Recommendation

  12.  RDA to understand, utilise and support the development of existing stakeholder networks in the region

19 September 2008







212   CABE. The Value of good design: How buildings and spaces create economic and social value. www.cabe.org.uk Back

213   A design review panel is a group of design experts who regularly assess development schemes. Design review panels do not make decisions on planning applications but advise those who do. The deliberations and recommendations of a panel should help the planning department come to an informed decision on a project. Comments are given without prejudice, and enable developers and planners to develop a positive dialogue about their respective aspirations for the urban environment. Back

214   The new spatial planning system is tasked to deliver positive social, economic and environmental outcomes, and requires planners to actively collaborate with the wide range of stakeholders and agencies that help to shape local areas and deliver local services. Local authorities being seen to have a role as "place shapers". RTPI.2007.Planning Together. Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) and Spatial Planning: a practical guide. Back

215   RTPI.2007.Planning Together. Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) and Spatial Planning: a practical guide. pg 11 Back

216   ibid Back

217   CLG. 2008.Planning and Optimal Geographical Levels for Economic Decision Making-the Sub-Regional Role. Back

218   Prosperous Places (BERR & DCLG) March 2008 http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file45468.pdf Back


 
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