Draft West Northamptonshire Development Corporation (Area and Constitution) (Amendment) Order 2011
The Committee consisted of the following Members:
Bradshaw, Mr Ben (Exeter) (Lab)
Campbell, Mr Ronnie (Blyth Valley) (Lab)
† Crabb, Stephen (Preseli Pembrokeshire) (Con)
† Dakin, Nic (Scunthorpe) (Lab)
Dromey, Jack (Birmingham, Erdington) (Lab)
† Hancock, Matthew (West Suffolk) (Con)
Hemming, John (Birmingham, Yardley) (LD)
† Holloway, Mr Adam (Gravesham) (Con)
† McCartney, Karl (Lincoln) (Con)
† Murphy, Paul (Torfaen) (Lab)
† Robinson, Mr Geoffrey (Coventry North West) (Lab)
Sharma, Mr Virendra (Ealing, Southall) (Lab)
Simpson, David (Upper Bann) (DUP)
† Spencer, Mr Mark (Sherwood) (Con)
† Stunell, Andrew (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government)
† Vickers, Martin (Cleethorpes) (Con)
† Williamson, Gavin (South Staffordshire) (Con)
Alison Groves, Committee Clerk
† attended the Committee
First Delegated Legislation Committee
Tuesday 8 November 2011
[Mrs Linda Riordan in the Chair]
West Northamptonshire Development Corporation (Area and Constitution) (Amendment) Order 2011
10.30 am
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Andrew Stunell): I beg to move,
That the Committee has considered the draft West Northamptonshire Development Corporation (Area and Constitution) (Amendment) Order 2011.
I am delighted to serve under your chairmanship this morning, Mrs Riordan. I hope not to detain the Committee too long.
West Northamptonshire development corporation is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Communities and Local Government and was established in 2004. Its purpose is to secure the regeneration of west Northamptonshire, an area identified for regeneration and economic growth where the population is growing at twice the national average.
Over time, the corporation has done a lot of good work and I want to recognise all that has been involved. However, the Government’s approach is to promote more locally led arrangements in a way that does not put at risk key delivery projects. Our priority is the economic growth and potential of west Northamptonshire’s priority sectors, including high performance engineering. We want to encourage the area’s unique opportunities including Silverstone, the logistics golden triangle and Northampton waterside enterprise zone.
The corporation has been very successful in delivering a range of projects to date, resulting in £70 million of infrastructure improvements, levering in a further £200 million of private sector investment. It has seen to the approval of up to 10,000 new homes and the creation of 2,500 jobs. However, for long-term success, the growth needs to be locally led, partly through the local enterprise partnership and partly through the local authorities, and the order is an important step towards that goal.
The purpose of the order is to reduce the size of the board of the corporation from 11 members, in addition to the chairman and deputy chairman, to seven members in addition to the chairman and deputy chairman—overall, a reduction from 13 to nine. Of the seven remaining members of the board, six will continue to be reserved for nominated representatives of the four local authorities, maintaining the commitment given to the Lords Select Committee during the passage of the 2006 order. The
remaining board member, chair and deputy chair will continue to be appointed through open competition if the need arises, although we do not expect there to be a need for a further round of appointments.The amendment will bring the local authority members into a majority on the board, which several hon. Members regard as an important move forward. It is a step on the path in the reform of the corporation, which will see its transition from a statutory body to a local authority delivery vehicle by the end of 2013-14, on 1 April 2014, in line with the announcement made about the development corporation as part of the public bodies review in October 2010.
There are always arguments for and against a particular date. There are those who would want an earlier date, and others who would want the corporation to continue for longer. However, I believe that this approach strikes the right balance in supporting regeneration investment at its most critical stage and that the corporation should plan to a timetable. The process for change has already begun with the return of the first phase of statutory planning powers to the local authorities in April 2011. The full return of planning powers will be completed in April 2012, subject to the completion of negotiations with the local authorities and parliamentary approval.
After the full return of planning powers, West Northamptonshire development corporation will focus on using its statutory powers to take forward five key projects in Northampton. By the end of 2013-14, we expect that the projects will transfer to the local authority vehicle for completion. I thank the development corporation for its co-operation in addressing such issues and for working towards the new arrangements for the future, and I commend the order to the House.
Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab): It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs. Riordan. I commend the Minister’s statement and the way in which he has outlined the purpose of the order. He rightly celebrated the high performance engineering for which this area of the country is famous and gave witness to the success of the corporation’s history. He also drew attention to the change in the board’s composition that the order will bring about and the movement from a statutory body to a local authority delivery mechanism. I am sure that all members of the Committee will commend such action.
Andrew Stunell: I thank the hon. Member for Scunthorpe for his kind words, and I look forward to the order making progress.
That the Committee has considered the draft West Northamptonshire Development Corporation (Area and Constitution) (Amendment) Order 2011.