Regeneration and Communities Some New Thinking

1. Regeneration and Communities Some New Thinking

2. Presentation to the SURF Open Forum on Thursday 30 March 2006 Leslie Huckfield Research

3. The Regeneration Statement - The Key Areas Leslie Huckfield Research

4. Where coming from – Position Taken • Regeneration Statement overdue. Welcome Executive decision to prioritise – with good statistical justification. • Better approach than English multiplicity of Area Based Initiatives – everything from Sure Start to New Deal for Communities! • Resources getting tighter so focusing necessary. • Could have been done with Community Regeneration Fund instead of ROAs spread thinly. • This presentation a plea for more diversity – beyond that trailed in Regeneration Statement Leslie Huckfield Research

5. Riverside Inverclyde – Sounds Familiar! • A partnership between Inverclyde Council, Scottish Enterprise Renfrewshire, Communities Scotland and major landowner - Clydeport • £400 million regeneration initiative which will deliver locally over the next ten years • 2,500 new quality homes, 2,500 new jobs and more than 530,000 square feet of new business accommodation. • Not criticising current examples or disputing concept but arguing for diversity in platforms. Leslie Huckfield Research

6. Social Justice in Scotland • 25% of men of working age in 15% most deprived areas either on incapacity benefit or severe disablement allowance (compared 9% in the rest of Scotland) • 30% of working age population in 10% most deprived areas claiming key employment related benefits. • 40% of children in 15% most deprived areas dependent on a recipient of income support – compared with 10% for rest of Scotland. • In 10% most deprived areas, in absolute terms, the proportion of those of pensionable age with limiting long term illness increased from 47% in 1991 to 65% in 2001. Leslie Huckfield Research

7. Social Justice in Scotland continued • In 10% most deprived areas in 2001, more than 4 times as many working age people (33%) had a limiting long term illness than in the 10% least deprived areas (8%) • Life expectancy in the 10% most deprived areas is 70 years, compared with 81 years in the 10% least deprived areas, and 76 years in Scotland. • Mortality rates for those aged under 75 in 10% most deprived areas are 845 per 100,000 of the population compared to 265 per 100,000 in the 10% least deprived areas • So mortality rates for those under 75 in 10% most deprived areas 3 times as high as in 10% least deprived Leslie Huckfield Research

8. Situation Not Good • September 2005 Social Focus shows worrying situation • Follows successive regeneration packages and programmes, such as Better Neighbourhood Services and SIPs, from the Executive. • Current three year £318mn Community Regeneration Fund Programme will not go far. • For Dundee the Regeneration Outcome Agreement based on £17.5mn over three years. • For North Lanarkshire ROA means £33mn over three years. • Small sums alongside scale of problems • Already much funding from these allocations earmarked to keep existing regeneration staffing and initiatives going. Leslie Huckfield Research

9. Public Sector Body Politic is Not Ungenerous • Not criticising funding priorities of Executive or Councils • Stand in awe of the scale of publicly funded rebuilding in many parts of the country. • “Investing in Transformation” (Section 2) gives details. • Difficulties continuing with this level of publicly funded regeneration – especially when not all policies delivering significant improvements. • Must find another way - alternative regeneration strategies which really involve communities. • Need models and structures which remain rooted in local areas and make a lasting difference. • Cannot depend on Tesco as agent of regeneration Leslie Huckfield Research

10. URCs - Executive Consultation Executive in August 2003 issued Consultation Document on Urban Regeneration Companies called “Challenging Practice, Testing Innovation”. Executive’s conclusion from the consultation, published in June 2004, was: “It is clear that a “one size fits all” approach is not supported and URCs are not seen as a panacea for all regeneration activities but should be considered as one of a selection of tools which can be used to accelerate growth and deliver regeneration”. Leslie Huckfield Research

11. Regeneration Policy Statement Page 22The Private Sector Alternatives “Other mechanisms, such as public-private Joint Venture Companies like the EDI Group and other financial instruments for levering private sector investment, such as bond issues, land trusts and Property Investment Limited Liability Partnerships, are already being used in a preliminary way to deliver regeneration initiatives across Scotland and the rest of the UK. “However, we have not so far considered their effectiveness or appropriateness at a national level; and, to date, we have provided little advice or support on such approaches to those involved in regeneration. “We intend to change this”. Leslie Huckfield Research

12. Regeneration Policy Statement Page 23Private Sector Alternatives continued “Scotland has one of the longest-established and respected financial and advisory sectors in the world. “Yet much more needs to be done to ensure that private sector players, such as developers, banks and the construction industry, view Scotland as ‘open for business’ on regeneration; and that they are fully aware of the opportunities available. “We want to encourage private sector involvement in regeneration……….and to secure a coordinated ‘mixed economy’ of investment which delivers sustainable regeneration and value for money. “And looking forward, we want to engage in dialogue with the private sector on new forms of financial instrument to secure additional investment in transforming Scotland.” Leslie Huckfield Research

13. What about Alternative Community Structures? • Scotland developing range of more localised structures for greater community involvement. • In Highlands and Islands, Land Reform movement creating Community Interest Companies, Development Trusts and Social Enterprises - now spreading throughout Scotland. • Recognise that most have local aspirations - smaller than conventional regeneration programmes • Evidence shows beginning to work and deliver sustainably what may really change people’s lives. • Some Housing Associations and other structures equally well placed as regeneration platform to become URCs. Leslie Huckfield Research

14. Do Alternative Community Structures have the skills? • Proposed URC structures face not dissimilar problems • Regeneration structures enmeshed in EU Procurement rules and face ever present legal challenge or judicial review. • Much current public sector input into public/private sector partnerships heavily reliant on engineering, legal, financial and other technical expertise - provided by private sector. • Public Realm and Community Benefit now rightly embedded in more tendering processes. • Unless very large, few City Councils have required mix of these essential skills. So urban regeneration now generously populated by external consultants. • URC funding packages to buy in professional expertise. Leslie Huckfield Research

15. Who has the skills? - continued • Not all new community structures or processes may need to follow the same EU Procurement rules. • A range of lesser possibilities or formulae through which Community Development Trust contributes land or other assets while private developer contributes equal range of premises, funding, expertise or resources. • Executive could produce rules setting out basic requirements for these procedures • Little reason why some of this should not proceed under existing legislation. Leslie Huckfield Research

16. What should now follow • For next wave of URCs, a wider range of organisations might be invited to submit applications for Pathfinder Status, including Housing Associations, Community Development Trusts and community based organisations. • Community Development Trust in partnership with a Housing Association, would be ideal for a CASPAR development of affordable city centre accommodation for single people. • Already precedents such as Bradford Trident – a Development Trust which ran a significant Single Regeneration Budget Programme. Leslie Huckfield Research

17. David Milliband and ODPM producing White Paper which institutionalises community involvement in England. In a further round of Pathfinder URCs, some could be led by Community Trusts, Housing Associations to provide an interesting variants. Risk with present models is that unless community involvement regeneration projects might need doing again in fifteen years time. Regeneration should be once in a lifetime rather than once every fifteen years. What should now follow - II Leslie Huckfield Research