An urban development fund has been launched in the east midlands with the promise that it will deliver a ‘longer term legacy for the region’.
The East Midlands Urban Development Fund (EMUDF) will provide investment for schemes hit hard by the recession and the lack of available finance, and aims to enhance the region’s offer in terms of innovation, science and technology.
Set up by East Midlands Development Agency (Emda), it is the first region in England to establish such an initiative using the funding mechanism Jessica (Joint European support for sustainable investment in city areas). Half of the funding will come from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), £5m from Emda, while the remainder is still being sourced.
Emda chair Bryan Jackson said: ‘Generally, ERDF funding is awarded in the form of grants, but the creation of the EMUDF allows us to make this funding work harder for the region and generate a greater return on investment for the taxpayer. This fund is the first UDF in England that is open for business and is taking advantage of new ERDF flexibilities.’
Funding will be offered in the form of equity, loans or guarantees in schemes that contribute to the region’s future growth and competitiveness.
‘The model we’ve adopted will also ensure that we create a longer term legacy for the region in the form of an ongoing stream of investment,’ added Mr Jackson.
The fund will be managed by King Sturge Financial Services, which will work with public and private sector partners to identify development opportunities.
‘Whitehall turf wars’ have been blamed by a think tank for jeopardising economic growth and recovery.
The Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) claims a lack of ‘overall, joined-up policy’ is undermining attempts to coordinate planning for big infrastructure projects such as roads, ports and railways.
The report by the housing and planning charity says national policy statements –a cornerstone of England’s planning system – are leaving different government departments to make their own plans for major projects.
Connecting local economies - the transport implications, argues for example, where a new high-speed rail link is planned that will create jobs and bring people into an area, too little consideration is being given to the demand it will create for an extra power station or new roads.
While supporting policy statements in principle, the TCPA criticises the ‘fragmented’ way they are being developed and says the current process ‘needs urgent re-appraisal in the interests of making a market economy work better’.
TCPA president Sir Peter Hall said: ‘England desperately needs an integrated transport investment strategy in which each piece of the system makes its own optimal contribution, linking together into a seamless web of efficient and sustainable connections.’
The TCPA published its findings on the same day the government announced new properties in the four eco-town areas will be built to the ‘toughest ever environmental’ standards.
The £60m investment – welcomed as ‘an important step’ by the TCPA - will help four eco-towns design, plan and build properties and neighbourhoods to world-leading environmental standards, incorporating smart meters, electric car charging points and systems for saving water and recycling or composting waste.
Nearly a third of the homes will be affordable, existing transport links will be improved with green travel hubs and facilities and some primary schools and libraries will be retrofitted.
Thousands of doctors, teachers and plumbers could be lost if Britain allows unemployment and unfulfilled aspiration to ‘stifle’ talent, according to new research.
One of the largest ever UK studies of young people not in employment, education or training (Neet) suggests the country could miss out on 19,500 doctors and nurses, 62,000 teachers and 1,500 plumbers if it fails to help unemployed young people into work.
The Prince’s Trust and Citi Foundation report warns that up to 93,000 potential entrepreneurs, 16,000 mechanics and 31,000 social workers could also be lost if youngsters are unable to pursue their ambitions.
Two-fifths (40%) of Neets do not have enough money to buy smart clothes for job interviews, more than half worry they will never be able to afford their own home while those out of work for more than a year are three times as likely to believe that they do not have any skills or talents.
Prince’s Trust chief executive Martina Milburn said: ‘Britain cannot afford to stifle its young talent. We must invest in young people now, giving them all the chance to achieve their ambitions and become the key workers of the future.’
The youth charity has launched a new campaign, Undiscovered, which calls for government, businesses and individuals to help raise £1m a week to support unemployed and disadvantaged young people.
Youth unemployment currently costs the state £3.5m a day in Jobseeker’s Allowance.
Recent research by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) found that, while the recession was affecting all young people, those from ethnic minorities or with fewer qualifications were far more likely to become part of a ‘generation lost to unemployment and disadvantage’.
Developers have pledged ‘design, sustainability and neighbourliness’ as key elements of a brownfield housing development on an inner city Nottingham suburb.
Work is under way on the 38-home Green Street project in The Meadows, an established community on the north bank of the River Trent.
The brownfield scheme is regarded as an important step in the planned regeneration and diversification of The Meadows, which has suffered issues including crime, deprivation, unemployment and poor housing.
Developers Blueprint expect the first 13 homes to be ready for occupation by the autumn, with the scheme completed by spring next year.
Built by Lovell and designed by Nottingham architects Marsh Grochowski, the three and four-bedroom houses will feature sustainability features including high insulation levels, rooftop solar panels and maximum use of natural light.
The area is close to Victoria Gardens and one of Nottingham’s largest green spaces, the Trent Embankment playing fields.
Blueprint marketing director John Long said: ‘Right from the start we set out to make the Green Street homes the very best homes in Nottingham - best in terms of design, sustainability, neighbourliness and their access to one of the largest and longest established open green areas in the city.
‘We’ve put our hearts and souls into it - now it’s over to the public to judge for themselves whether we’ve succeeded.’
The scheme has the backing of the Meadows Partnership Trust, which has been involved with a residents’ consultation conducted by Blueprint, and has also received funding from the Homes and Communities Agency and Nottingham Council.
Separate plans to encourage the area to become low-carbon, including a large community-owned wind turbine, are also in the pipeline.
Belfast’s landmark Victoria Square regeneration project has won Britain’s top planning prize.
Master-planners BDP took the silver jubilee cup in the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) Awards after judges declared the scheme an ‘outstanding contribution to both the science and art of town planning, and to community development in Northern Ireland’.
The retail-led, mixed-use regeneration scheme has become ‘part of the city rather than just a mall’, according to judging panel chair Kay Powell, who described it as ‘a visionary undertaking that is a catalyst for other improvements and future developments in the surrounding area’.
BDP Belfast architect director Doug Pilkington said Victoria Square was ‘a great example of private investment which has brought thousands of jobs to Belfast’.
‘But what is most important is that people in Belfast have really taken it to their hearts and that is what we are most proud of,’ he added.
More than 90 planning and regeneration projects from across the UK submitted entries for the awards, which feature categories including sustainable communities, heritage and climate change.
A third of applicants made the final shortlist, ranging from new railway schemes and ring roads to national parks and the 2012 Olympics rowing lake.
The other winners were:
♦ Sustainable communities winner
One Brighton - Brighton and Hove Council
♦ Town regeneration winner
Ringing the changes: the Ashford ring road project - Kent Council
♦ Rural areas and the natural environment winner
St Davids Gateway and Oriel y Parc gallery scheme - Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority
Commendation
Ceredigion Coast Path, West Wales - Ceredigion Council
♦ Heritage winners
Castle Howard conservation management plan and development framework - Castle Howard Estate
Gardyne's Land, Dundee - Dundee Council
Commendation
Cobham Ashenbank management scheme - Gravesham Council
♦ Planning process winner
Barnsley education sites DPD - Barnsley Council
Commendations
• Householder appeals service - Planning Inspectorate
• Streamlined consultation scheme, Northern Ireland - Planning Service Northern Ireland
♦ E-government winner
London brownfield sites review – Arup
♦ Arts, culture and sport winner
Dorney rowing lake, Eton - Capita Lovejoy
♦ Spatial strategies winner
Solent waterfront strategy - Adams Hendry Consulting
♦ Climate change winner
London rivers action plan - Environment Agency
Commendations
• Sustainable design and construction SPD – Southwark Council
• Moving green roofs into the mainstream - Environment Agency
♦ Equality and diversity winner
Inclusive design strategy and standards - Olympic Delivery Authority
♦ Public realm winner
City of London street scene challenge - City of London
♦ Contribution to planning winner
100 years of planning achievement – Liverpool University’s department of civic design
A scheme to help disabled people into sustainable employment must work harder to ensure support is sufficiently tailored, according to a new report.
The Workstep employment programme, funded by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), helps disabled people facing complex barriers.
But areas for improvement remain in its design and delivery, according to Ofsted.
Improving progression to sustainable unsupported employment identified Skills for Life provision within Workstep as a particular weakness, while revealing that participants who needed to improve literacy, numeracy and language skills did not always receive specific training or encouragement.
The programme – and the way it is interpreted by providers – limits ‘the success of working with certain potentially vulnerable groups’, such as school leavers or ex-armed forces, due to a lack of tailored provision.
But the report also praised ‘a marked change in culture’ from the first years of Workstep on the part of providers, who positively promoted participants’ skills ‘rather than promoting a deficit model in which the employer believed that it was doing the provider or the participant a favour’.
Those working very closely with employers to ensure participants are matched to their skill needs and locally available jobs were deemed by Ofsted to be most effective.
Oftsed gave a series of recommendations including the need to ensure development plans identified clear actions, and agreeing specific dates for progression with participants.
The survey follows research published by the National Skills Forum calling for ‘bold policy steps’ to expand the training, skills and education opportunities for disadvantaged or excluded groups, including those with disabilities.
A community-owned shop in Worcestershire has won a national award at a ceremony at the House of Lords.
Feckenham Village Shop took the trophy in the ‘best village shop/post office’ category at the Countryside Alliance Awards – known as the ‘rural Oscars’.
After 20 years without a shop, a group of Feckenham volunteers with no previous retail experience bought, upgraded and opened their own.
More than £40,000 was raised in just seven months and hundreds of parishioners signed up as shareholders.
Countryside Alliance chief executive Simon Hart said the shop had brought the ‘feelgood factor’ to the community, adding: ‘This has rippled outwards and local schools and businesses are also benefiting from this shop’s support.’
The community is now planning the addition of a tearoom.
The shop was helped by the Village Core programme, managed by the Plunkett Foundation, in partnership with the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and Co-operative and Community Finance.
The Plunkett Foundation supports rural communities in setting up and running community-owned rural shops with practical assistance, advisory support and financial start-up packages.
A record three community-owned shops were crowned regional winners at the event, with Blockley in Gloucestershire and Berrynarbor in Devon also recognised, while Lincolnshire’s Agricultural Chaplain, Revd Canon Alan Robson was crowned ‘rural hero’.
A new multi-million pound project to ensure Welsh tourism benefits from current and future digital technology developments has been unveiled.
Heritage minister Alun Ffred Jones said the cash boost would keep the industry competitive by funding projects over the next four years in areas such as online marketing, booking systems and business management.
The scheme will also cover research, wireless and mobile technology and web content and be funded by the European Regional Development Fund, the Welsh Assembly Government and the private sector.
The project will be split into five streams including piloting innovative approaches and developing and exploiting the knowledge base.
Volunteering and training charity CSV today confirmed the appointment of Sir Jon Shortridge as its new chair. An experienced public servant and leader, Sir Jon was permanent secretary in Wales for over nine years. He assumes the role as a volunteer and takes over from John Pulford who served as chair for more than 30 years and has become vice president.
William Pope will be the new chair of the East of England Development Agency (Eeda). He has extensive business experience managing companies operating in the low-carbon, environmental and manufacturing sectors. He replaces Richard Ellis, who has been in post for six-and-a-half years.
Pamela Warhurst has been appointed chair of the Forestry Commission. A former member of the board of Natural England, she chairs regeneration company Pennine Prospects and local food partnership Incredible Edible Todmorden.
Specialist housing charity Commonweal Housing has appointed its first chief executive, Ashley Horsey. Mr Horsey has more than 20 years’ experience in social housing, with former roles including chief executive of the Empty Homes Agency. Before joining Commonweal, he was commercial director at east London housing association Local Space.
The Aldridge Foundation has made Honor Wilson-Fletcher its first director. She was previously at the National Literacy Trust, where she was director of the 2008 National Year of Reading, and was awarded an MBE for services to education in last month’s New Year’s Honours list.
Walsall Regeneration Company has announced Brian Lowe as its new chair. Mr Lowe was instrumental in the establishment of Premier Business Park (Walsall) Ltd, a business-led urban regeneration scheme, for which he is now life president.
Robert Crawford, executive director for operations at South East England Development Agency, is the new chair of Invest Thames Gateway. Dr Crawford takes over from executive director Jeff Alexander. He has previously held senior positions with Scottish Enterprise, Ernst and Young and John Wood Group.
Barnet Council’s regeneration team has welcomed two new recruits. Tony Westbrook has joined as principal project manager with overall responsibility for the area’s housing regeneration schemes. He has previously worked for a number of UK developers and was part of the team behind the Westfield London project. Susan Botcherby is the new senior project manager. She has worked for a number of registered social landlords and housing associations in her career, most recently Home Group.
Ann Skippers has become president of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI). The current senior vice president, with more than 20 years’ experience in planning and planning education, she succeeds Martin Willey.
Cheshire and Warrington Economic Alliance – soon to become a new commission taking on a broader role – has made two appointments. Robert Davis, group chief executive officer of Chester’s EA Technology, has been announced as the new chair to oversee the transition, while Aidan Manley will be its first managing director. Mr Davis holds a number of roles including president of the Institute of Asset Management and chair of Northwest Development Agency’s North West Enterprise Forum. Mr Manley joins from St Helens Council where he is currently head of regeneration and has been involved in high-profile schemes including mixed use, city centre joint ventures and the delivery of the City Growth Strategy.
Morgan Parry is the next chair the Countryside Council for Wales. Mr Parry is a founder member and current chair of Cynnal Cymru, an independent, not-for-profit organisation promoting sustainable development and living. A member of the Climate Change Commission for Wales, he will succeed present chair John Lloyd Jones who retires at the end of the month.
A national organisation has received support from the three main political parties after announcing a ‘ten-step’ strategy to end homelessness in the next ten years.
Homeless Link’s manifesto sets out ten practical steps, including reform of the benefits system, halving the number of empty homes and extending support for learning, skills and employment.
Chief executive Jenny Edwards said: ‘We will not allow the most vulnerable in our society to be invisible. We want to see a green paper that will tackle the deep social exclusion of people with multiple needs.’
The umbrella organisation for homelessness charities launched its manifesto at an event with guest speakers Ian Austin MP, parliamentary undersecretary for DCLG, Caroline Spelman MP, shadow communities and local government secretary and Julia Goldsworthy MP, shadow communities secretary.
Less than a quarter of the 205 most entrenched long-term rough sleepers remain on the streets after a focus by the mayor’s London Delivery Board as part of a national campaign.
However, the current government method of counting rough sleeper numbers has come in for criticism by the Conservative MP and shadowing housing minister Grant Shapps, who claimed the 'bracketing down' of official homeless statistics was ‘deliberate undercounting’.
Funding issues, low expectations and prioritising ‘ticking boxes over training provision’ are to blame for a swathe of worklessness and social exclusion, according to new research.
‘Bold policy steps’ must now be taken to expand the training, skills and education opportunities for learners from disadvantaged or excluded groups.
The National Skills Forum (NSF) made the call as part of a six-month inquiry into the links between skills training and the social exclusion of offenders, people with disabilities and black and ethnic minority (BME) groups.
Not enough is being done to tackle the issue of ex-offenders unable to secure work because of inadequate or irrelevant training, it said.
Across all three social groups, the inquiry found a combination of inflexible funding and low expectations of peer groups and employers, alongside a government obsession with ‘ticking boxes’ over training provision, to blame for high rates of worklessness and social exclusion.
With over half of male offenders and 71% of female offenders lacking qualifications, and with £30m spent each year on prisoners transferred before they complete education courses, the report concluded ‘urgent improvements to the system are needed’.
It also estimated that improving education and skills alone could help cut reoffending and save up to £325m a year.
The NSF announced a raft of recommendations including:
• Making education and training an ‘inherent part of sentencing process’
• Simplifying funding mechanisms to support disabled learners
• Encouraging Russell Group universities to participate in careers guidance at institutions with a high BME student intake.
The NSF publication follows recent research warning those from ethnic minorities or with fewer qualifications are far more likely to become ‘part of a generation lost to unemployment and disadvantage’.
Gordon Marsden MP, who co-chaired the inquiry, said improving the current system was ‘an absolutely vital requirement and message for any society wishing to make the best use of its talent and resources and to boost social inclusion’.
Billions of pounds of investment in health policies for the under-fives has ‘barely changed’ the inequality gap between rich and poor in England, according to a watchdog.
The Audit Commission found significant differences between children under five, with those in deprived areas 8% more likely to be obese and 9% more likely to be underweight at birth.
Since 1998, the commission estimates £10.9bn of funding has been invested in health programmes aimed, in whole or in part, at improving the health of the under fives.
But Giving children a healthy start says this has not produced widespread improvements, with some indicators, including obesity and dental health, worsening.
Research also found children from minority groups have poorer health and their parents are less likely to access mainstream health services because of awareness issues or cultural preferences.
Improving early years’ health ‘contributes considerably’ to better health outcomes in later life’, says the report, and has a ‘significant impact’ on wider society.
The report also warns: ‘Public services will be under significant financial pressure over the coming decade and the investment in early years’ health has not so far resulted in notably improved outcomes.’
The commission makes a series of recommendations for government, which, it says, would lead to better value for money including monitoring and reviewing the impact of the economic downturn and its potential financial impact on children’s services.
The Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) and its predecessor have both failed to improve local government performance leading to a ‘culture of compliance’, according to think tank Localis.
For good measure: Devolving accountability for performance and assessment to local areas suggests local government performance would be improved, bureaucracy costs reduced and accountability to local people enhanced if councils opted out of the CAA.
The think tank calls for a ‘new kind of state’ based on the cornerstones of local authorities taking more power from central government and fostering an environment of citizen activism.
Citing current compliance costs of £2bn, Localis instead foresees a vision where ‘the tools for a new wave of citizen-led participation will have been given to local residents’.
Chief executive James Morris said: ‘Local authorities are more accountable to central government than to their residents. Without doubt, this has been a contributing factor in the disengagement of local people.
‘The new system we propose can turn this underwhelming system of performance and assessment on its head.’
The report’s key recommendations include:
• The CAA to become optional and councils actively encouraged to opt out, with councils still auditing their financial accounts and conducting self assessments but choosing their own measures to drive up performance.
• Councils to release more data to residents, including all financial expenditure over £500 and attendance record, declared interests and voting record information about elected local officials.
• Any increase in local accountability tempered by an increase in power from central to local government to avoid undermining the case for localism.
• The 25 indicators not selected by any council in their Local Area Agreements dropped from the National Indicator Set and the remainder subject to a rigorous check based on factors including public interest.
Report author Tom Shakespeare added: ‘The need for local government to be freed from central targets has never been greater. Now is the perfect time to re-think how to radically improve the public sector, improving performance and saving significant sums of money in the process.’
The report follows the launch yesterday of a Manifesto for Londoners, demanding the devolution of key responsibilities in areas such as health and welfare to local borough level.
Residents in Birmingham were invited to take a seat in an ‘outdoors living room’ and make their neighbourhood a better place to live in a unique community event.
The 'Sense of Place' event encouraged Handsworth residents to share the changes they would like to see in their area and pledge to make a difference.
Primary school children customised furniture with photographs, postcards and song lyrics and residents pinned ‘ideas for change’ onto a local road map.
A new community newsletter was also kickstarted with budding journalists gathering stories during a digital technology session at Handsworth Library.
Initiated and funded by government housing market renewal agency Urban Living, the initiative was supported by Birmingham council and delivered by a consortium led by arts organisation Multistory.
Nick Corbett, Urban Living's director of urban design and enterprise, said: ‘We wanted to hold a fun-filled free event that will really get people talking and interacting in public space.
‘Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and we were delighted to see so many residents showing their support and taking the chance to make positive steps towards improving their area.’
London Councils have issued a manifesto demanding the devolution of key responsibilities to local government level.
Among the proposals in the Manifesto for Londoners are calls for local councils to take on responsibility for providing healthcare and welfare services.
Devolving more powers from Whitehall and quangos to London boroughs would give residents more choice and more of a say over issues including policing neighbourhoods, managing public space and reducing carbon emissions and fuel bills, it says.
According to research commissioned by London Councils, such a devolution of powers could also generate cost savings.
The proposals include:
• Integrating non-acute care budgets of Primary Care Trusts with all other local care services
• Devolving Job Centre Plus programmes and other back-to-work schemes to boroughs
• Scrapping the housing revenue account system and allowing boroughs to design a London model for managing existing debt and borrowing against their assets to invest more in improving housing stock
• Responsibility for neighbourhood policing budgets passed to boroughs
• Devolving responsibility and funding for retrofitting homes to boroughs working with the mayor and allow them to keep a share of efficiency savings they deliver.
The manifesto also calls for the dismantling of the Government Office for London and the abolition of the comprehensive area assessment in London, with all savings returned to the Treasury.
London Councils commissioned PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) to map public expenditure in the capital.
Findings revealed £73.6bn of public money was spent in 2008/09 but less than half was directed through bodies directly accountable to Londoners such as the capital's boroughs and the Greater London Authority.
The research suggested devolution and giving communities more choice could generate savings of up to 15%.
London Councils chair Cllr Merrick Cockell said the recession had left ‘a new environment’ requiring ‘radical and brave steps’.
‘Local government has long called for devolution but our proposals in this manifesto are by far the most comprehensive, detailed and ambitious,’ he said.
‘We are now throwing down the gauntlet to any new government to work with us to drive forward this pioneering vision.’