Written evidence submitted by the City
of Bradford
— Successful
regeneration can only be delivered through local partnerships.
— There
remain significant structural issues with some economies in the
North that require support.
— Local
Authorities and their partners have experience and track records
in delivery.
— Incentives
need to be flexible and locally relevant.
Bradford is a great example of how regeneration can,
and is, making a difference to people and places. A large part
of this success is down to our strong local partnerships, although
innovative approaches to how resources are used and a targeted
approach on how funds have been deployed have also greatly contributed.
Given the recent extraordinary changes to the landscape
for regeneration and economic development we welcome the Government's
stance on reviewing the general approach taken and the recognition
that successful regeneration requires a significant amount of
effort and input from local partners, stakeholders and communities.
We have always taken this approach in Bradford, putting
residents, local businesses, civil society organisations and civic
leaders in the driving seat. We take a partnership approach to
regeneration which creates a shared focus and a clear set of priorities
for intervention.
But, while significant progress has been made in
some areas, we continue to have some significant structural issues
which act as a brake on local economic growth and regeneration.
Work to develop the Local Economic Assessment and Economic Strategy
shows that high levels of long-term unemployment, low skills levels
and low levels of private sector investment and job growth continue
to impact on the nature of regeneration and economic development
in the district.
Given the challenges to economic development and
regeneration that we, along with other areas in the North of England
face, we strongly suggest the Government retains a focus on areas
which may have not fully benefited from the last 10 years of economic
growth.
The Local Authority and our partners have a track
record of delivering successful outcomes for the district in terms
of physical and social regeneration and we would expect this to
continue in this new approach to regeneration.
For example the Local Enterprise Growth Initiative
has been recognised as a major success in supporting local people
to move into self-employment, supporting 1,219 business start-ups,
safeguarded 2,781 jobs and created 3,949 new jobs. Indirect benefits
include increasing enterprise in higher education, tackling barriers
to employment, embedding enterprise in local communities, supporting
business survival and growth through investment, access to finance
and providing locally relevant business support.
It is important we are able to continue to deliver
interventions that are locally relevant, Any national delivery
identified within the Localism Bill must be sufficiently flexible
to allow us to complement it with local perspectives and priorities.
We welcome the new incentives for growth highlighted
as part of the new approach. Particularly the proposals for new
methods of raising finance through Tax Increment Finance. We are
keen to explore how a TIF could help secure the delivery of local
schemes that have stalled as a result of the recession. We are
already working with local partners and investors to explore how
the TIE model could support the regeneration of Bradford city
centre. We urge the Government to ensure the Localism Bill fast-tracks
the implementation of TIE the model to ensure we can maintain
momentum.
We are also keen to explore how the proposed Enterprise
Renewal zones could work for Bradford. As a district Bradford
is heavily dependent on public sector employment. If we are to
meet forecast demand for 25,000 new jobs by 2020 then we have
to significantly increase private sector growth. Offering incentives
through Enterprise Zones could provide an opportunity to do this.
Incentives provide a short term win that can help
kick start local economies. A longer term strategy to deploying
resources will contribute enormously to economic growth and regeneration.
In order to secure this we believe that capital assets
from the Regional Development Agencies should be disposed of in
a manner which provides the most opportunity for local areas.
Our perspective is that these should be transferred to the Local
Authority for appropriate action. Having ownership of these assets
could provide a significant opportunity for local authorities
to lever in additional investment or to unlock further development
potential.
In conclusion we would like to see the Government
lead by example with this new approach and ensure that, when decisions
on investment or the deployment of public resources are being
taken, they take into account local perspectives and input partners
and take into account the need to create and maintain momentum
and support growth in deprived areas.
We encourage the Government to deliver this new approach
in partnership with LEPs and Local Authorities who are best placed
to support implementation on the ground.
March 2011
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