7 Conclusion
131. Regeneration to enable growth offers
little evidence that the Government has a coherent strategy for
addressing the country's regeneration needs. The document lacks
strategic direction and fails to target action and resources at
the communities most in need. The measures it sets out are unlikely
to bring in sufficient resources or to attract the private sector
investment that in many areas is badly needed.
132. We have seen and heard about some of the challenges
our most deprived communities currently face. Across the country,
regeneration projects have stalled or stopped completely as funding
reductions and the absence of finance have taken their toll. The
cessation of Housing Market Renewal funding in particular has
caused problems for many communities, blighting neighbourhoods
across the North and Midlands with row upon row of boarded-up
houses. Furthermore, the knowledge and skills of those closely
involved in regeneration for many years are now at risk of being
lost; a clear approach is needed to ensure they are preserved
and passed on.
133. Moreover, the Government has apparently paid
little regard to the lessons from previous approaches to regeneration.
We have heard that there is much that can be learned from both
successful and unsuccessful initiatives, and that the past offers
particular lessons about the factors contributing to successful
regeneration. In Hulme we saw for ourselves an example of an approach
that worked: the Government should be learning from this and looking
to create more places like Hulme.
134. Our evidence pointed to a number of actions
that, as part of a wider approach, could help to get regeneration
projects underway again and to incentivise much needed private
sector involvement. More must be done to ensure public land and
European funding are used to their full potential. We also look
forward to the implementation of Tax Increment Financing and to
seeing the contribution this can make to regeneration.
135. We agree with the Government that it is right
to move towards a localist approach to regeneration. Communities
have to be placed at the heart of initiatives affecting their
area; the voluntary and community sector has an important role
to play in enabling this. Witnesses, however, have suggested that
while the "aspirations" for community-led regeneration
are in place, the "practical mechanisms" are lacking.
It is not clear that Regeneration to enable growth will
give communities the support they need to play a greater role
in regeneration.
136. A localist approach to regeneration will also
involve political leadership and partnership working across the
wider local area. The Community Budgets programme has a crucial
role to play in enabling this; the second phase of the Local Government
Resource Review should give greater consideration to how Community
Budgets can be used in regeneration, including their potential
for levering in private investment.
137. We heard many times that there was no 'silver
bullet' with which all regeneration problems could be solved.
Tackling regeneration requires a joined-up approach and a concerted
effort. This emphasises the need for clear strategic direction
at the national level, something that, as we have seen, is currently
lacking. We recommend that
the Government publish a national regeneration strategy that sets
out a coherent approach to tackling deprivation in the country's
most disadvantaged communities. This strategy should:
- begin by defining what is meant
by regeneration and by emphasising its focus on tackling market
failure;
- explain clearly the action the
Government will take to target resources at the communities most
in need;
- provide for the "managed
wind-down" of the Housing Market Renewal programme;
- set out action to mitigate the
risk of a skills shortage in regeneration;
- include a plan for bringing
in private sector investment, considering, amongst other things,
potential sources of gap funding, the role of initiatives such
as Tax Increment Financing and Enterprise Zones, and the contribution
that can be made by better use of public land and European funding;
- put in place mechanisms to enable
community groups to play a greater role in regeneration; and
- explore the potential of the
Community Budgets initiative to facilitate a joined up approach
to regeneration and to lever in additional private finance.
It is crucial that the strategy
be based upon a clear understanding of lessons from previous approaches
and of the factors that have contributed to successful regeneration.
It must also include a clear set of objectives against which its
own success can be measured. We hope that our inquiry and this
report presage a more determined focus on the part of Government
to tackle the deep-seated problems of market failure and deprivation
which still blight too many of our communities.
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