Memorandum submitted by Wychavon District
Council
I welcome the Business and Enterprise Committee's
review of the future role and responsibilities of regional development
agencies within the context of the future implementation of the
sub national review. In response I would like to share my own
considerations of future arrangements. As a starting point I have
carried out a review of how economic development is delivered
today in the district of Wychavon compared with arrangements in
the late 1990s prior to the creation of the regional development
agencies.
WYCHAVON : SETTING
THE CONTEXT
The district of Wychavon is located in south
east Worcestershire within the West Midlands. We have a growing
population of over 112,000 in a largely rural area with the three
growing towns of Droitwich Spa, Evesham and Pershore. Unemployment
traditionally is lower than the regional and national averages
but the local economy is historically associated with lower than
average wages and challenges with access to services. In many
economic ways it is typical of many rural districts in England
and could be summarised as "economically doing ok but has
the real potential to be achieving so much more." Consequently
it's the sort of area that can make a significant contribution
towards meeting our identified regional output gap of £10
billion.
LATE 1990S
LOCAL ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES
During the 1990s Wychavon District Council had
developed a range of economic development activities including
business start up support (grants and small industrial units),
commercial property search and inward investment marketing activities.
In terms of partnership working close links existed with other
Worcestershire wide based organisations such as Business Link,
Chamber of Commerce, County Council and other district councils.
However, in contrast links with regional and national economic
bodies was very limited. This reflected the districts perception
as a relatively successful district with low levels of identified
needs.
The approach taken at this time had success
with supporting a range of businesses which was reflected by good
progress with the development of a number of significant local
business parks on the edge of our towns and a general decline
in unemployment levels. However, very few transformational projects
were being implemented and a number such as the re-opening of
Droitwich Canal had been talked about for many years but very
little progress was being made.
Devastating flooding in easter 1998 affected
many parts of the district, especially Evesham town centre. In
dealing with the aftermath of the floods no support came forward
from regional and national bodies and parts of Evesham town centre
(Port Street and Waterside) remained derelict and vacant for 3
to 4 years. The flood recovery work highlighted that large parts
of our town centres, not just those areas directly flooded, had
suffered from a long term decline in their local economic importance
and environmental quality.
LOCAL ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES
2000 UNTIL TODAY
The regional development agencies, Advantage
West Midlands in our case, came into operation in 1999. As designed
the Agency has had a significant impact on co-ordinating and supporting
economic regeneration activity within the whole region, including
areas such as Wychavon which had previously largely been excluded
from government funding. In the intervening years a positive relationship
has been developed and has helped with a range of initiatives.
Listed below are a number of local case studies :
— Evesham and Pershore Market Town
Partnerships—agency developed programme has resulted in
the development of two strong and successful partnerships that
have delivered a range of projects and initiatives that have made
a major contribution to the economies and quality of life within
these two towns and their hinterland. Direct financial support
from the agency has helped draw in substantial additional sources
of funding to help support a number of transformational projects
that have already taken place such as Evesham riverside and Pershore's
Number 8 Community Arts Centre. In addition it has helped give
momentum to developing major projects such as the Evesham High
Street enhancement scheme. Both partnerships are going strong
today and have a sustainable and ambitious future despite the
main programme locally finishing in 2006.
— Droitwich canal project has recently
started and will involve restoring a 7.5 miles canal linking the
Worcester and Birmingham Canal with the River Severn. In doing
this the project will open up a range of town centre brownfield
sites for new business and residential development and provide
a major boost to local tourism. The agency is one of the key funders
and it's financial support has helped bring forward this long
held objective closer to reality.
— Broadband—in common with many
areas there was strong demand a number of years ago by many rural
businesses to secure affordable access to broadband connections.
In partnership with the Council the agency provided substantial
support (financial and technical) to get a pilot broadband service
established in part of the district. The success of this and other
pilot schemes in the region helped convinced BT of the business
benefit of rolling out broadband across the region so all of our
exchanges are now enabled. The agency performed a significant
role in lobbying BT to do this.
— Worcester Technology Park—in
recognition of strong demand by major local technology businesses
for expansion land the agency is currently undertaking a strong
lead in the securing and delivery of a major new regionally significant
employment site. The success of the project is absolutely key
to securing substantial numbers of existing high value jobs and
has the potential to attract many new jobs. The agency has brought
to the project resources to provide effective co-ordination and
a range of specialist technical support.
— Flooding July 2007—in common
with many other parts of the country the district suffered major
damage and disruption created by last year's floods. On this occasion
the agency was quick to provide support with the clear up and
repair of key public spaces and advice and financial support to
individual businesses. Compared to 1998 those areas affected by
the floods have recovered much quicker.
When comparing with our previous way of working
I have to say that our regional development agency has provided
well needed financial support for a range of projects but more
significantly it has helped the district raise it's ambitions
with regards to type, scale and quality of projects, helped shape
our sustainable local partnerships, encouraged us to think more
strategically and work with a much a wider range of partners.
This combination has strengthened our local
economy which should be in a stronger position to withstand the
current economic uncertainties. I am pleased to report that our
residents now benefit from an average household income slightly
above the national average.
LOOKING TO
THE FUTURE
The sub national review proposals clearly have
far reaching implications on the way local economic regeneration
is delivered in the future. Reflecting on experiences over the
last 20 years I would like to share the following comments in
relation to the inquiry's focus of attention :
1. Need for a level of economic development/business/regeneration
policy delivery between central and local government.
The delegation of area based funds to a local
area would be welcomed and in my experience of operating the Market
Towns Programme—which has limited delegation powers—has
already proven to be a great success. However, capacity to deliver
at the local government level varies and in some areas will need
support over the coming years to ensure minimum capacity levels
are in place so that quality delivery is achieved. The delegation
of skilled staff resources from the agencies should follow the
funds to the local area. It is essential at a district level that
we don't see contract monitoring requirements with the region
replaced with requirements from both the region and the county
level.
There are a number of high level specialist
support functions such as major project delivery (eg significant
property development, large scale infrastructure schemes, contaminated
land development), regional policy development and research, climate
change and international investment, which I believe will continue
to be best placed to be delivered at the regional level.
2. Effectiveness of RDAs and their role in
adding value
As illustrated in my brief case studies the
RDA has been effective and value added. The challenge in the future
is to build on this success by delegating area based funds to
the local area without unnecessary bureaucracy but maintain a
strong regional presence for specialist economic regeneration
activities.
3. RDA Expertise
Specialist expertise such as ICT was absolutely
essential in delivering the success with broadband this will be
needed in the future to ensure high speed and reliable services
exist in the future. In addition the progress with the Worcester
Technology project has significantly required the property development
skills of the agency.
4. Overseas activities
Although totally new inward investment from
abroad has declined significantly we are still dependent on established
international companies continuing to invest within the UK. Therefore
overseas activity is still required but needs to be at an appropriate
level.
5. Consequences of expanding RDAs remit
The RDAs have had a strong economic development
focus and I believe that this has contributed to much of it's
effectiveness. The development of a single integrated economic,
spatial, social and environmental strategy for each region is
to be welcomed and hopefully will improve the quality and speed
of delivery. However, transferring the role of regional planning
body from the regional assemblies to the RDAs raises many potential
dangers, including :
— Too large of a task with many difficult
challenges resulting in policy development dominating and delivery
losing out.
— Conflict of interest. The agencies
perform a key role in directly delivering major property development.
If they also control planning policy development they are in danger
of being accused by some parties of having a perceived self interest.
6. Accountability of RDAs
Lack of democratic accountability is a major
concern. The transfer of regional planning powers to the RDAs
creates a real democratic defecit as there is a concern that the
democratic element, the Forum of Leaders, can be overridden by
the government. It is proposed that the principle way that the
RDAs will be held to account is to government ministers. Accountability
to the elected councils in the region should be equally important.
7. How RDA performance has been measured in
the past and will be measured in the future
The RDA locally has involved partners in the
sharing of performance measures through a number of activities
including it's annual report, annual conference and specific stakeholder
audit activities (eg training performance). At a national level
the National Audit Office has audited each RDAs performance and
local partners have been involved in this process. The Regional
Assemblies have also had the role to hold the RDAs to account.
In my experience the key measures have focused
on the tier one outputs from government based largely on employment
creation activities. Even though I support the continuation of
an economic regeneration focus for RDAs I do believe that their
key measures in the future should be based on a much broader approach.
19 September 2008
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