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Queen honours top regeneration professionals

Regeneration experts were among those awarded gongs in this year’s Queen’s New Year honours list.  The former chair of the Housing Corporation, Peter Dixon, was given a knighthood, while Dennis Rees, once dubbed the ‘most powerful tenant in the land’ was appointed an OBE.

Bryan Gray, chair of Northwest Development Agency was made a CBE. He has played a key role in the development and delivery of initiatives including Mediacity UK and Liverpool’s capital of culture programme. He said: ‘As well as being an honour for me, I see this as recognition of the work the agency has instigated, led and developed to ensure the ongoing economic regeneration of the region.’

Nick Paul, chair of Advantage West Midlands, becomes a CBE in recognition of his services to business, particularly the setting up of the MG Rover Taskforce in response to the closure of Longbridge car plant.

Honours were also given to Richard McCarthy, director general of housing and planning at DCLG, David Parsons, leader of Leicestershire Council and chair of East Midlands Regional Assembly, Deborah Shackleton, chief executive of affordable housing group Riverside and Robert Upton, secretary-general of the Royal Town Planning Institute, who were appointed CBEs.

Gideon Amos, chief executive of the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA), was made an OBE for services to sustainable development.

During his time at TCPA, he has promoted a more integrated approach to planning and shifted the focus towards sustainability.

Dennis Rees, director of the Tenant Participation Advisory Service and board member of the new Tenant Services Authority, was appointed OBE, as was Carole Snee, a key figure behind the construction and development of the University of East London’s Docklands campus.

Martin Cave from Warwick Business School was made an OBE. He led an independent review of social housing regulation commissioned by DCLG in 2006.

The honour of OBE was also awarded to former director of economic development at the City of London Corporation, Martyn Baker, former chair of West Northamptonshire Development Corporation Keith Barwell, and Charles Morrison, board member of Scottish Enterprise.

Clara Greed, professor of inclusive urban planning at the university of west England, Sandra Forsythe, chair of Glasgow Housing Association, and Linda Hines, director of Witton Lodge Community Association in north Birmingham were appointed MBEs.

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Mon 5th January 2009

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Sheffield city centre set for transformation

Barry McCarthy

Artist’s impression of the new Tudor Square, Sheffield

Work began this week on a multimillion pound redevelopment of Sheffield city centre. The local authority has been awarded £4.1m from regional development agency Yorkshire Forward to transform Tudor Square. The refurbishment will help the site host the world snooker championships, dance, theatre and music events.

Ian Auckland, cabinet member for sustainable development and transport at Sheffield Council, said: ‘The public want improvements to Tudor Square and we have listened and acted. The square is the cultural heart of the city and it is important that it gets the tender loving care that we see elsewhere in Sheffield.’

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Mon 5th January 2009

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HMR pathfinders asked to rethink targets as economic downturn bites

Clare Goff

© Paul Herrmann

England’s multibillion pound housing market renewal programme could change the way it measures its impact in 2009 as a result of the recession. The Homes and Communities Agency has asked leaders of the nine HMR pathfinders to start a debate about how their targets could be adapted to reflect the changing economic climate.

‘It’s an opportunity for us to take stock of the indicators we set and see if they remain in somewhat changed economic circumstances,’ said Max Steinberg, chief executive of Elevate East Lancashire and chair of the pathfinders’ directors.

The pathfinders’ bosses will meet soon to discuss the way forward.

While no wholesale changes are planned, pathfinders are facing a battle to keep the programme on track in the face of recession and a downturn in the housing market.

An investigation by New Start published in this month’s magazine covering all of the first wave of HMR programmes found that some newbuild projects have been postponed or cancelled, and overall programmes are being adapted.

Many are looking at new ways of delivering housing given the changing circumstances. ‘We have to be brave’, said Peter Latchford, chair of Urban Living, which covers Birmingham and Sandwell. ‘At first there is shock and delay but it’s also an opportunity for us to explore new models and how best to prepare for the upturn.’

As public sector expenditure goes into overdrive to prop up the economy, HMR chiefs are considering their options when the current wave of government funding comes to an end in 2011.

New Start’s survey of HMR funding needs beyond 2011 has found the nine original pathfinders will require more than £2.5bn to complete the work they have started. But when asked to name the biggest obstacle to the future success of their programmes, all HMR chiefs cited the housing market downturn. Maintaining confidence across communities affected by HMR and the lack of a long-term funding commitment from government are also key concerns.

Pauline Davis, managing director of Newheartlands in Merseyside, said: ‘Convincing government to keep the programme going over the long term is one of our biggest challenges. We are on a journey and have made promises and have people involved and have to complete what we’ve started.’

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Mon 5th January 2009

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Ex-offender charity given £350k funding boost

A charity in Hull has been awarded £350,000 of government funding to help reduce crime committed by newly released offenders. Goodwin Development Trust will focus on getting ex-prisoners back into work by addressing barriers like mental illness, drug and alcohol addiction, homelessness, and debt.

The project will provide participants with individual mentors who will work with prison officers to help prepare offenders for reintegration back into the community.

The mentors will also provide access to support services and help build a life plan for the offender once they are released so that they can make a positive contribution to the community.

Goodwin is working in partnership with Humberside Probation Trust and Humberside Police with funding coming via the government’s regional development agency Yorkshire Forward.

Research shows that over half of all crimes committed across the Humber are carried out by ex-offenders. The initiative is aimed at working with people serving sentences of less than 12 months who are not released under probation supervision.

John Marshall, head of community services for Goodwin, said: ‘Many of the ex-offenders leaving prison face severe economic hardship, employment problems and social exclusion because of a lack of support when they are released. If they are not supported they may go on to re-offend and this costs Hull an estimated £60m a year. We hope to significantly reduce that figure through this programme.’

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Mon 5th January 2009

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Voluntary groups urged to join forces to ride out the recession

A support service designed to help voluntary and community groups across England become more sustainable during the recession is being launched this month. The Collaboration Benefits programme will encourage joint working between third sector organisations to cut costs and improve services. Organisers said funders are more likely to award cash and tenders if several small bodies pool their experience and creativity through a partnership.

The programme, which will run until 2011, is being led by Bassac, a membership organisation for groups involved in tackling poverty, and will provide seminars and training sessions on joint working. There will also be up to 15 days’ free support for organisations.

The programme has gathered case studies highlighting how collaboration has led to the success of projects. Leeds Community Drugs Partnership, for example, involved Developing Initiatives Supporting Communities, Bramley and Rodley Community Action (Barca) and St Anne’s Community Services coming together in 2008 to jointly bid for a tender to provide community drugs treatment services across the city. The partnership was successful in winning a multimillion pound contract against strong competition from a local primary care trust.

The programme also involves Capacitybuilders, which works towards improving the capacity of the third sector, Action for Communities in Rural England, the Community Foundation Network and the Institute of Voluntary Action Research.

Nigel Newton Sawyerr, programme manager of Collaboration Benefits, said: ‘Smaller community organisations will be excluded from the marketplace unless they get together to present viable proposals. In this way they can ensure their voices are heard and their communities are served.’

Mark Law, chief executive at Barca, said: ‘The collaboration enables the opportunity for us all to learn and share best practice, to agree common goals and deliver the best possible service.’

There will be an opportunity to discuss the programme at Bassac’s annual conference in Leicester on 25-26 February.

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Mon 5th January 2009

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More information

Collaboration Benefits, http://www.bassac.org.uk/collaboration

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