JOINT COMMITTEE ON THE DRAFT GAMBLING
BILL:
CALL FOR EVIDENCE
Submitted by Northwest Development Agency
1) Introduction - Scope of Evidence
The submission explains the role of the Northwest
Development Agency and its statutory purposes, the function of
the North West Regional Economic Strategy and associated Action
Plan, the priority accorded to the regeneration of Blackpool in
relation to the Regional Economic Strategy, and the potential
impact of the reform of gambling legislation to help to secure
the regeneration of Blackpool.
2) Background
The Northwest Development Agency (NWDA) was established
as one of 8 Development Agencies for the English regions under
the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998. The NWDA became fully
operational on the 1st April 1999.
The NWDA has wide-ranging powers in economic development,
employment promotion, business efficiency, skills development
and sustainable development. The NWDA's purposes, as set out
in Section 4 of the RDA Act, are:
a) to further the economic development and the
regeneration of its area;
b) to promote business efficiency, investment
and competitiveness in its area;
c) to promote employment in its area;
d) to enhance the development and application
of skills relevant to employment in its area;
e) to contribute to the achievement of sustainable
development in the United Kingdom where it is relevant to its
area to do so.
The role of the RDAs is a challenging one and is
crucially important. It involves them in implementing strategic
initiatives designed to achieve major economic regeneration in
accordance with a new Government agenda. This is illustrated
in the statements by the Deputy Prime Minister (at that time also
the Secretary of State for Environment, Transport in the Regions),
and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, both of whom have stressed
the importance of the Regional Development Agencies role.
Announcing the Spending Review in July 2000, the
Chancellor said: "No longer can we rely on the old methods
of regenerating our regions. We need to attack the cause of poverty
- too few jobs and too little economic activity - and empower
local people with the skills and confidence they need to build
the enterprises businesses that work. The RDAs have a vital role
to play in delivering this agenda".
The Deputy Prime Minister said: "The RDAs
have come out of the review as strategic leaders of economic development
and regeneration in the regions".
3) The Regional Economic Strategy for
the North West
The NWDA is required under Section 7 (1) of the RDA
Act 1998 to prepare and review a Regional Economic Strategy (RES).
The first Regional Strategy was produced in 1999 and, under the
triennial review arrangements, the revised Regional Economic Strategy
was launched in March 2003 after a major consultation process
during 2002.
The Minister for State and Employment Relations,
Industry and the Regions, welcomed the revised RES and stated
that it: "clearly sets out economic development priorities
for the region. This should provide a good framework for the
continued work of the RDA and all regional and local partners
to drive forward economic development and increase prosperity
and opportunity for all in the region".
The Minister also emphasised the need to focus on
implementation of the revised RES, stating: "You rightly
point… to the need to focus on implementation in order to
deliver change and I welcome the Agency's intention to develop
action plans to implement and monitor delivery of the strategy".
The revised RES consists of four components:
i) The vision which is 'to transform England's
North West through sustainable economic development'
ii) 5 priorities of Business Development, Regeneration,
Skills and Employment, Infrastructure, and Image.
iii) 10 objectives and 50 key activities supported
by an action plan.
4) Detailed Strategic Context for the Regeneration
of Blackpool
Many of the key activities in the RES are of relevance
to Blackpool including those relating to business development,
regeneration, skills & employment and image, but there are
3 key activities of specific relevance to Blackpool, as follows:
Key Activity 4.2
'Support the regeneration of the most deprived areas
and most deprived wards and strengthening their wider economic
base'.
In relation to Key Activity 4.2, Blackpool is cited
as one of the 25 priority Local Strategic Partnerships within
the North West which the NWDA will assist by supporting economic
initiatives, set in the context of integrated and comprehensive
community regeneration plans.
In each of these areas the Agency will concentrate
on schemes that develop the economic infrastructure, remove barriers
to growth (including dereliction) and link areas of opportunity
and need.
Key Activity 4.3
'Develop and implement proposals for regenerating
coastal resorts to support diversification and stimulate business
growth including tourism'.
In relation to Key Activity 4.3, the region's coastal
resorts pose particular challenges and issues, usually associated
with the decline or change in tourism as their major economic
activity. These resorts will need to develop new strategies for
the future in line with the 'New Vision for North West Coastal
Resorts' study. The Agency will look to support these emerging
strategies.
Under Key Activity 4.3, there is a specific major
action to develop an action plan based on the strategic master
plan for Blackpool. It should be noted that there are only 3
major actions identified under Key Activity 4.3 of which this
is one, thus indicating the priority being accorded to the regeneration
of Blackpool.
New Vision for North West Coastal Resorts
The vision advanced for Blackpool in A New Vision
for Northwest Coastal Resorts (by Locum Destination Consulting)
is for a modern resort offering world-class standards in conferences,
entertainment, retail and nightlife. The vision is not for incremental
change, it is for wholesale change.
Resort casinos are of critical importance to achieving
this vision. They are important to Blackpool not just in their
own right as attractors and generators of economic activity, but
in giving credibility to the prospect of decline being reversed.
Resort casinos are in effect the only viable means of generating
the massive private sector investment required to turn around
the economic decline of Blackpool.
Locum Destination Consulting recommended that
the development of large-scale resort casinos within the UK should
be restricted primarily to Blackpool and other resorts in need
of tourism-led regeneration in order to maximise the regeneration
benefits. Resort casinos offer the opportunity to encourage staying
tourism within Blackpool and thereby maximise the capture of consumer
spend through complementing the gambling element with an upgraded
hotel, leisure, retail and catering offer.
Blackpool has the opportunity to develop as the
primary gambling resort in the UK, building upon its existing
strengths in terms of a large catchment area, good transport access,
and availability of large and central development sites that would
enable the creation of critical mass for the resort casinos. Resort
casinos should be the cornerstone of Blackpool's regeneration.
Key Activity 10.3
'Develop and implement a Regional Tourism Strategy and Action Plan aimed at improving the region's tourism offer and its take-up'.
Under Key Activity 10.3, a major action is to develop
a comprehensive, costed Regional Tourism Strategy and Action.
North West Regional Tourism Strategy
The North West Tourism Strategy has identified
key 'signature projects' that it believes could have an enormous
impact on the success of the region's tourism industry of which
Blackpool's revival is one. Such initiatives will bring about
major change and must be supported accordingly.
Blackpool, like other coastal resorts, is in decline
and its revival through a regenerated tourism industry must be
sought. The planned liberalisation of gaming legislation and
attendant resort casino development, offers the opportunity to
address this situation and to stimulate massive investment from
both public and private sectors.
Blackpool is uniquely placed in being able to
maximise upon the benefits that would accrue from regeneration
that has resort casinos at its cornerstone. The flavour and character
of the town means that it is well placed to take up the mantle
of Europe's No. 1 resort - an accolade it enjoyed
for many years.
The importance of Blackpool as a tourist destination
is recognised further by the Agency in so far as it is one of
the principal partners in the new support structure for tourism
in the sub-region. As one of 5 Destination Management Organisations
the Lancashire/Blackpool Tourist Board will be a key player in
helping the regional tourism industry reach its full potential.
5) NWDA Support for Blackpool
Given this strategic significance of Blackpool, the
NWDA has already supported a broad range of activity to begin
to deliver the strategy as follows:
· NWDA
in principle support given for establishment of an Urban Regeneration
Company in Blackpool in support of the Regional Economic Strategy,
NW Coastal Resort Strategy and Casino Resort initiative;
· NWDA
is supporting Blackpool regeneration through the Single Regeneration
Budget (£18M over next 3 years) and new activity within Single
Financial Framework;
· Masterplanning/visioning
and other capacity/development work supported by NWDA up to £685K;
· Project
specific NWDA support agreed so far:
- £4.95M for major acquisitions/land assembly;
- £2M for South Promenade public realm work;
- £7.8M for Central Corridor Gateway public
realm/community park/improved transport/commercial development
project
· Proposals
coming forward through Lancashire Alliance for Skills and Productivity
sub-regional action plan to match skills provision and business
support to economic opportunity presented by Blackpool regeneration
· Blackpool
will be a key "brand" of new Destination Management
Organisation for Lancashire
6) The Impact of the Proposed Reforms to the
Gambling Legislation on the Regeneration of Blackpool
With the strategic context for the regeneration of
Blackpool firmly established, and the NWDA's commitment to delivering
the strategy demonstrated, the Agency is anxious to ensure that
the proposed reforms to gambling legislation fully support the
delivery of the regenerative benefits for Blackpool.
On the 5th September 2003 the NWDA's Board
confirmed that their position is to seek to secure the economic
benefits of deregulation, particularly in support of the regeneration
of Blackpool and possibly other areas in the North West, whilst
ensuring that the potential adverse consequences are dealt with.
To assist this, the Agency joined the Cross-Industry Group for
Gaming Deregulation and is supportive of the work undertaken by
that Group (commissioned by Pion Economics) to undertake an economic
impact study, the results of which have now been published and
submitted to the Committee. At the regional level, this work
is complemented by the Pion Study prepared by Lancashire West
Partnership with funding from the Development Agency which indicated
that some 15,000 jobs and £500m of additional tourist spend
could be achieved with benefits extending to significant parts
of the North West region.
Whilst there are many aspects to the proposed legislation
which are of no direct relevance to the Agency's remit, we have
a number of specific points which we would like to make to the
Committee, in support of those made by others.
We strongly agree with the Government's proposal,
"that Regional Planning Bodies will set out planning policies
for leisure development of regional significance, including casinos,
which identify suitable locations within the region that would
optimise their contribution to tourism and regeneration"
(Para 5.16, Draft Gambling Bill Policy, November 2003).
To achieve this, however, it is crucial that a direct
link is made between this activity and the strategic framework
for tourism and regeneration set out in the statutory Regional
Economic Strategy. The Government, through the Office of the
Deputy Prime Minister, is currently consulting on the draft Planning
Policy statement (PPS 11) on Regional Planning which in our view,
seriously underplays the importance of the relationship between
the Regional Planning Guidance (to become Regional Spatial Strategies)
and the Regional Economic Strategy.
In order to ensure that the Government's objectives
for securing the regenerative and tourism benefits of gaming deregulation
are fully achieved, there needs to be explicit reference to the
need for the allocation of locations for leisure developments,
including casino's, specifically to support the priorities set
out in the Regional Economic Strategy.
With regard to the North West, this will mean that
Blackpool must clearly be allocated as one such area and
that consideration of the allocations of other areas in the
region must be undertaken in a way that does not prejudice Blackpool's
position. The rationale for this is provided by the over-riding
significance of these reforms to securing Blackpool's regeneration,
an opportunity not afforded to anywhere near the same extent in
other parts of the region, and the clear identification of the
priority accorded to Blackpool for resort casino based regeneration.
This position was re-affirmed by the Agency's Board by way of
resolution on 10th December 2003.
It is also important to ensure that the link between
the Gaming and the Planning Acts is simple and direct so that
the intent of the legislation to reform gambling and secure regeneration
of benefits is not undermined e.g. ensuring that casino uses cannot,
in planning terms, be seen to be incidental to other leisure uses
within large scale developments.
Equally, the legislation should ensure that the thresholds
are not lowered such as to encourage the proliferation of small
scale casinos which would do little to secure regenerative benefits
but, on the basis on much evidence, would exacerbate the social
problems which, of course, the regeneration is designed to alleviate.
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