Written evidence submitted by the Host
Boroughs Unit
1. SUMMARY
1.1 The Strategic Regeneration Framework
(SRF), published in December 2009, is the Olympic legacy strategy
of the five host boroughs which will ensure real, significant
and lasting change.
1.2 The host boroughs—Greenwich, Hackney,
Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest—are proud supporters
of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. They are achieving good
progress in improving the lives of their residents but entrenched
structural disadvantages remain.
1.3 The legacy vision of the host boroughs
goes far beyond sport. It is that of convergence: that within
20 years, the communities who host the 2012 Games will have the
same social and economic chances as their neighbours across London.
1.4 The SRF is an expression of the host
boroughs' determination to use the 2012 Games as a catalyst for
radical socio-economic and physical regeneration. Delivery of
the Games is not sufficient in itself to achieve this level of
transformation. The ambition and commitment must be embedded in
all tiers of government and across all public, private, voluntary
and community sector organisations working in the sub region.
1.5 The SRF outlines measurable indicators
for the social and economic regeneration of the host borough communities
resulting from investment in the Olympics. Sport and culture are
included as part of the overall approach.
1.6 Sub regional working in the host boroughs
is a direct result of hosting the Olympics. Strong local partnerships
will be vital and need to be supported in order to achieve the
SRF outcomes.
1.7 The SRF was agreed by the Mayor of London,
Olympics Minister, Secretary of State for Communities and Local
Government and the host borough leaders and Mayors at the meeting
of the Olympic Park Regeneration Steering Group in October 2009.
1.8 The principle of convergence and the
Olympic-led regeneration of east London were included in the Mayor
of London's draft London Plan, published in October 2009.
1.9 The sub region will increasingly offer
national and regional government a new and more relevant framework
for developing policies focused on the achievement of socio-economic
convergence.
1.10 The SRF summary document, which includes
detail on indicators, outcomes and action, has been provided with
this submission.[23]
2. INTRODUCTION
FROM THE
HOST BOROUGHS
2.1 We are proud supporters of the Olympic
and Paralympic Games and our residents are determined to do all
that they can to help host a successful Games in 2012. However,
it is our job to set out a legacy vision for the area which goes
beyond this sporting occasion.
2.2 The place we call home is one of the
most culturally vibrant and dynamic areas of the country. Yet
the scale of poverty and deprivation experienced by our London
sub region is an embarrassing, though often hidden, reality of
life in our nation's capital. The social outcomes that many residents
experience in the host borough area are far worse than that of
our London neighbours.
2.3 If you are one of the 1.25 million residents
in the host borough area you are less likely to do well at school,
get a good job, earn a living wage or feel you live in a good
place than residents in any other area of London or the UK. Unfortunately,
you're more likely to live in a family which is in receipt of
benefits, be the victim of violent crime, suffer from obesity
in childhood and die early.
2.4 Our vision for an Olympic legacy is
that within 20 years the residents who will host the world's biggest
event will enjoy the same social and economic chances as their
neighbours across London. This will not be easy to achieve. Not
only will a century of social decline have to be halted and turned
around, but the pace of change and improvement will need to be
immense.
2.5 Achieving our vision for the area and
reducing the inequalities which hold back our boroughs will not
just benefit families in the host boroughs. The whole of London
and the national economy will also benefit through increased tax
levies, a lower benefits bill and a new economic powerhouse.
2.6 We have come together to work on the
Strategic Regeneration Framework as a direct result of hosting
the Olympic and Paralympic Games. We believe that we are collectively
responsible for ensuring a better future for our boroughs and
the people who live in them. We know that we can achieve more
by working together, and in partnership with others.
— Sir Robin Wales, Mayor of Newham &
Chair of the Host Boroughs Joint Committee
— Cllr Chris Roberts, Leader of Greenwich
— Jules Pipe, Mayor of Hackney
— Cllr Lutfur Rahman, Leader of Tower Hamlets
— Cllr Chris Robbins, Leader of Waltham
Forest
3. ABOUT THE
STRATEGIC REGENERATION
FRAMEWORK
3.1 The Strategic Regeneration Framework
(SRF) brings together the regeneration of the physical area of
the host boroughs and the socio-economic regeneration of the communities
who live within it. It outlines how the Olympics can be used as
a catalyst for regeneration across the host boroughs area.
3.2 The five host boroughs account for the
greatest cluster of deprivation in England and Wales. Therefore,
the SRF has as its organising principle that over a 20-year period,
conditions for the people who live in the host boroughs will improve
to the point where they can enjoy the same social and economic
conditions as Londoners as a whole. This is the principle of convergence.
3.3 Due to the demography of the area, it
is likely that in order to reach its goals, the SRF will have
to widen the opportunities available to some of the most disadvantaged
and hardest to reach groups in the boroughs.
3.4 The SRF has been approved as a basis
for the legacy regeneration of the host boroughs by the Secretary
of State for Communities, the Minister for the Olympics, the Mayor
of London and the Mayors and Leaders of the host boroughs. That
approval extends to the agreement of the inclusion of the principle
of convergence in the relevant planning and policy development
of local and regional government and the relevant activities of
national Government and the active support of officials at all
levels to assist in the implementation of the SRF.
3.5 The London host borough sub region could
become an area of economic and social opportunity within the next
two decades. If this opportunity is realised, then the sub region
will make a significant contribution to the London economy, and
remove longstanding inefficiencies related to high levels of economic
inactivity and exclusion.
3.6 The Games and physical transformation
of the Lea Valley are vital catalysts to that process, but they
are not enough on their own. To fully realise this opportunity
will require a concerted and sustained effort from the public
and private sector and local, regional and national partners.
4. THE PRINCIPLE
OF CONVERGENCE
4.1 The aim is that in the next 20 years,
residents in the host boroughs will equal the London average in
a range of the life indicators which you would expect to find
in a successful community:
— employment rates will increase to the
London average;
— average incomes in the bottom two fifths
of earners in the host borough area will be increased to the London
average;
— young people in the host borough area
will have improved GCSE results to at least the London average;
— host borough 11 year olds will have at
least the same educational attainment as the London average;
— the number of families in receipt of
benefits in the host boroughs area will fall to no more than the
London average;
— the rate of violent crime will continue
to fall and reflect the London average; and
— residents in the host boroughs area,
particularly men, will have increased life expectancy to the London
average.
4.2 The challenge for improvement is immense—in
many areas the host boroughs will have to improve at two or three
times the average London improvement rate.
4.3 Seven outcomes have been identified
that will need to be achieved to address deprivation and meet
the convergence objective:
(i) creating a coherent and high quality city
within a world city region;
(ii) improving educational attainment, skills
and raising aspirations;
(iii) reducing worklessness, benefit dependency
and child poverty;
(v) enhancing health and wellbeing;
(vi) reduce serious crime rates and anti social
behaviour; and
(vii) maximising the sports legacy and increasing
participation.
4.4 These indicators and outcomes provide
measurable targets that will enable progress to be effectively
monitored.
5. BENEFITS OF
THE 2012 OLYMPICS
5.1 The 2012 Games and Olympic Park legacy
bring the needs of the host boroughs into sharp focus, and through
the promise of legacy benefits for communities, create the opportunity
to tackle the physical and social deprivation that characterises
the sub region.
5.2 The Games will bring direct benefits
to the host boroughs and in some areas the impact of these benefits
are already being seen:
5.3 The physical regeneration of the Lea
Valley has enabled the adjacent host boroughs to explore how the
Olympic Park will act as a catalyst to much-needed and better
quality development. This will bring considerable improvement
to the neighbouring, areas which are often run down.
5.4 The infrastructure which will service
the Games is already transforming the host borough public realm
and transport network. These developments will help boost the
economy of the whole host borough area.
5.5 The construction of the Olympic Park
has brought training, job and contract benefits to local businesses
and local people.
5.6 The creation of housing, social and
educational infrastructure within the Olympic Park will help to
meet the housing needs of the host borough areas and create educational
and health opportunities for residents of adjoining areas.
5.7 The sporting facilities on the Park
and the 2012 Games themselves have already created a platform
within the host boroughs for a lasting sporting legacy for local
communities.
5.8 The spirit of the Olympic and Paralympic
Games is being seized as partners work together to deliver cultural,
sports and volunteering programmes which promote the active engagement
of residents and build community cohesion.
5.9 After the Games, the Park will become
a focus of sporting and social activity for the people of the
four host boroughs to the north of the Thames. These facilities
did not previously exist in the area, and will enable residents
to make better use of the recreational facilities of the Lea Valley.
5.10 The scale of the Olympic Park development,
and the holding of the Games in the Park, at Excel, Woolwich,
O2 and Greenwich Park, represents a very important symbol of the
renaissance taking place in east and south-east London. The Olympics
creates an opportunity for significant change in the ambition
and aspiration of communities in the host boroughs.
5.11 The host boroughs are already feeling
the benefits to the visitor economy arising from the planning
for and hosting of the 2012 Games. These benefits are expected
to rise in the period between 2009 and 2012 and will become an
important and sustainable part of the host borough economy.
5.12 There is evidence that the reputational
benefit of the Olympics after 2012 will be of substantial assistance
in the marketing of the Olympic Park and its fringe areas.
6. HOW THE
STRATEGIC REGENERATION
FRAMEWORK WILL
OPERATE
6.1 The SRF will work by improving the coordination
and delivery of socio-economic interventions linked to the Olympic
Games legacy. The SRF will provide sub-regional strategic leadership
to address barriers to improvement, and harness the opportunities
available through the sub region's improved connectivity, housing
offer, public realm and economic growth.
6.2 The SRF needs to influence all aspects
of the regeneration of the host borough sub region over a 20-year
period. It therefore requires a flexible and iterative approach,
combined with firm objectives and clear outcomes for the community.
6.3 The SRF does not rely on asking for
increased funding. It will work by adding value in:
— more strategic planning and delivery;
— building links between traditionally
separate programme areas where an integrated approach offers significant
net gains, such as health and housing; and
— realising opportunities which have lacked
a clear champion to take them forward.
7. THE DEPRIVATION
GAP
7.1 The most overwhelming challenge that
the host borough area faces is the scale of its disadvantage,
compared with the rest of London and the country.
7.2 On almost every indicator available,
the fate of families and communities living in the host boroughs
is on average worse than other communities in London.
— 64.2% of the population are employed
in the sub region compared with 70.4% in London, which equates
to 77,000 fewer people in employment in the host boroughs;
— overcrowding varies from 18% to 38% of
households in the five boroughs against a London average of under
7%;
— there are low levels of adult skills
compared to the London average, with 17.6% of adults in the host
boroughs having no qualifications, compared to 11.6% in London
(this gap equates to 67,000 more people with no qualifications);
— there is almost an 8% gap in GCSE attainment
from the London average;
— an extra 15 people per 100,000 population
die prematurely in the host boroughs than in London overall; and
— one in four children are classified as
obese by Year Six, above the London average.
7.3 Without the organising principle of
convergence, the scale of progress and development will not automatically
bring economic benefits to residents in the area. Canary Wharf
is an example of this. Based within the host boroughs area, it
has created 10s of thousands of jobs, and while a proportion of
local residents have accessed employment, Tower Hamlets continues
to have an employment rate of around only 61.7% of its working
age population.
7.4 The host boroughs are home to approximately
a sixth of London's total population—twice the population
of Glasgow and three times the population of Manchester. Forecasts
by Greater London Authority (GLA) Economics suggest that the population
of the host boroughs will increase more rapidly than in any other
part of London. Over twenty years, the GLA predicts a population
increase of 260,000 people in these boroughs, equivalent of a
whole new borough the size of Newham.
7.5 A significant factor in the demographics
of the host borough area is the high rate of churn. The host boroughs
experience very high levels of inward migration of poor and deprived
families. The constant flow of transient populations is a particular
challenge in the creation of sustainable communities and tackling
this problem on a pan-London basis will be a significant factor
in achieving the SRF outcomes.
8. SUB-REGIONAL
PARTNERSHIP
8.1 A strong and coherent sub-regional partnership
is essential to deliver a lasting legacy. The SRF aims to enhance
strategic partnership across the five boroughs, recognising the
breadth of work underway through the Local Strategic Partnerships
to achieve their Local Area Agreement priority outcomes.
8.2 In many cases, the sub-regional partnerships
resulting from the SRF are entirely new. Their formation has highlighted
the potential for sub-regional partnership working, and a commitment
to a shared multi-agency approach to achieve convergence on the
seven priority indicators of change.
8.3 The combination of a sub-regional approach
and the host boroughs partnership has also developed a Multi Area
Agreement that includes a sub-regional investment strategy approach
for worklessness and housing.
8.4 The relationship between the five host
boroughs is formalised in the establishment of a Statutory Joint
Committee, unique in London, which oversees the five boroughs
mutual interests in the Olympics, the MAA, and the SRF.
9. GOVERNANCE
PROPOSALS
9.1 The SRF is a long-term project requiring
sustained commitment from all levels of government and all partners
operating in the host borough area. This requires a robust governance
structure providing for:
— a shared commitment to long-term outcomes;
— a shared commitment to working in partnership
to achieve those outcomes;
— an effective system for monitoring progress
and revising plans;
— a mutual accountability of each partner
to all others;
— a consistent and enduring political commitment
and engagement at national, regional and local level; and
— an effective long-term system for engaging
and involving communities, the private and the third sector.
9.2 The newly created East London Legacy
Board (ELLB) has been charged with supporting the implementation
of SRF and brings together lead officials from the host boroughs,
the Olympic Park Legacy Company and representatives of central
and regional government. The ELLB has direct accountability to
the Olympic Park Regeneration Steering Group and links to national
legacy arrangements.
10. NEXT STEPS
10.1 This first stage of the SRF explains
the context, defines the approach to the physical regeneration
of the sub region, sets the outcome targets for improvement in
key deprivation indicators, and outlines the next steps for all
partners towards their achievement. It will be followed this year
by a second stage which sets out further legacy benefits, the
economic prospects for the sub region, and the detail of the first
five-year action plan.
10.2 The host boroughs believe that the
regeneration of their area can and should bring benefits to the
areas that surround them. They aim to:
— consult with relevant neighbouring areas
that may be affected by developments in the host boroughs;
— develop host borough plans in a manner
that allows benefits to be spread over a wider area; and
— recognise interlocking sub-regional opportunities.
11. A NOTE ON
SPORT AND
CULTURE
11.1 The SRF contains an indicator on sports
participation. By 2015, the host boroughs will achieve 15,000
more adults taking a healthy level of physical activity, 25,000
adults currently taking no physical activity taking some exercise
each week, and approximately 48,000 more children participating
in high quality school sport.
11.2 This will be achieved through implementing
sports plans across the five boroughs, allied to Olympic venues,
which foster talent, cater for performance athletes, and encourage
sports participation by residents of all ages, income levels and
backgrounds. Sport and physical activities will also be used to
build community cohesion and ensure young people chose positive
pathways; and the boroughs will develop and promote the sports
and visitor offer to attract national and international events.
11.3 The host boroughs are home to the largest
cultural quarter in Europe. Over 12,000 artists are based in the
area alongside a growing number of leading creative companies
and cultural institutions, iconic arts venues and an extraordinary
range of communities.
11.4 The boroughs are working together to
deliver an annual arts festival, CREATE, with leading venues and
cultural organisations. The aim is to develop the UK's next major
international arts festival—a legacy that will have a lasting
impact on the cultural life of London and the UK. The CREATE partnership
extends to developing a range of year-round arts activity, arts
policy and partnership development.
11.5 CREATE 09 attracted audiences of over
822,000 with opportunities for 220,000 to actively participate
in events and contributed £15m to the east London economy.
Nearly £600,000 in new funding was secured by the Host Boroughs
Unit Culture team to support the festival.
February 2010
23 Not published here. Back
| 
