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CHAPTER 2 Strengthening the English regions Chapter summary
DEVELOPING THE ENGLISH REGIONS 2.1 The Government believes that successful solutions to regional problems need to be rooted in the regions themselves. We have recognised the added value of the regional dimension and significantly strengthened the mechanisms for regional governance. A range of institutions and approaches has been developed since 1997 to give expression to the regional dimension, in particular:
2.2 The Government has developed these institutions in order to deliver better decisionmaking and implementation of policies in the English regions. We will continue to improve these regional arrangements. There is an immediate opportunity to improve the ways in which institutions work, including how they work together. But there is a limit to how far we can go in devolving power to regions which do not have the democratically elected regional assemblies described in the following chapters. 2.3 The Government is proposing to enhance existing arrangements in all the English regions. In particular, it is aiming to:
2.4 The Government believes that these improvements will make the delivery of programmes and policies more efficient and ultimately lead to better outcomes in all regions. They will also enhance capacity in the regions, on which an elected assembly will be able to build in those regions where people want one. Some regions – particularly in the north of England – may choose to have elected assemblies as soon as this opportunity is offered. But others will follow at a slower pace, and some may not choose to have elected assemblies for many years. The proposals set out in this chapter should provide those regions with more effective arrangements in the meantime. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN THE REGIONS 2.5 On its election in 1997, the Government’s top priorities included tackling economic underperformance in the regions, enhancing the skills base, promoting social and physical regeneration in the regions, and encouraging sustainable development. Following on from the success of their counterparts in Scotland and Wales, eight Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) were established in England in 1999 (with the London Development Agency being established in 2000 as one of the bodies for which the Greater London Authority is responsible). Their role is to take a strategic lead in driving improved economic performance in the English regions. 2.6 The Regional Development Agencies were established as partnership bodies. Their businessled Boards reflect regional interests – such as the voluntary sector, rural areas and tourism – and more than a third of the members of each Board are representatives of local government, with the choice reflecting a balance between type and size of authority as well as geographical and political spread. Regional Development Agencies also work closely with the Government Offices in their region on economic development and regeneration programmes (such as the New Deal for Communities) where – although individual initiatives are necessarily focused on local communities and specific neighbourhoods – some of the underpinning problems cross local authority boundaries and need to be addressed with broader sensibilities.
2.7 Scotland and Wales have had development agencies since the 1970s, providing an increasingly coherent voice on economic development matters. As a result of devolution, the Welsh Development Agency, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands & Islands Enterprise are now the responsibility of the National Assembly for Wales and the Scottish Executive respectively, and both administrations are looking to build on their success. Invest Northern Ireland, which is working closely with the Northern Ireland Executive, now has a similar role. The achievements of these national development agencies have led to their retaining broad crossparty support since their inception. Regional Development Agencies were established in England only three years ago, and they face a real challenge in many of the regions if they are to match the performance of Scottish Enterprise, in particular. The challenge for the UK Government is to help the English regions achieve this kind of success. Better regional competitiveness 2.8 Regional Development Agencies are already succeeding in supporting economic development in their regions, guided by the regional economic strategies they have agreed with their partners. They are also effectively promoting regeneration, providing new office space, and bringing large numbers of derelict sites back into use – and have set up business parks and skill centres in order to help tackle some of the underlying regional economic disparities. Their engagement with local needs and ability to react quickly to economic developments was shown in their reaction to the foot and mouth disease emergency, where they were able to identify and quickly assist affected businesses in order to help rural economies recover. For example, the South West Regional Development Agency allocated £8.5 million to around 1,200 businesses, while the North West Development Agency has produced a rural recovery plan containing £62 million extra spending by 2007 to aid rural regeneration. Regional Development Agencies are concentrating effectively on the strengths of their regions by developing sectoral programmes to support those areas which their regional economic strategies have identified as being most important to regional prosperity. 2.9 The Government places great importance on the role of Regional Development Agencies. Their early success was recognised in the Government spending review in July 2000, when their funding was greatly increased. The agencies will continue to work with regional partners both to achieve long-term goals and to tackle short-term problems. They are also taking on Government Offices’ responsibilities for Regional Selective Assistance, in order to provide more coherence with the regional economic agenda for the business community. 2.10 From April 2002 the Regional Development Agencies have been given the flexibility to allocate the extra resources from the 2000 spending review to what they have identified as priorities for their regions. In return they have agreed to deliver challenging targets in areas such as economic development, regeneration, and skills development. This will lead to more jobs, greater recycling of brownfield land, more training opportunities and more business start-ups. The Regional Development Agencies are now even better placed to act as the strategic drivers of economic development and regeneration in the English regions. Better regional skills 2.11 Employment and skills are at the heart of regional economic development. The Government believes it is important for national, regional, and local partners to work together to improve employment opportunities and skills levels and thereby increase prosperity and competitiveness. Accordingly, Regional Development Agencies were asked to lead on Frameworks for Employment and Skills Action (FRESAs) and to produce a first Framework for each region by October 2002. The Frameworks are intended to provide a forum for planning and delivery which will involve all the main stakeholders at regional and local level. Their aim is to enhance the range of services that already exist by bringing together the work of different government agencies, businesses, the TUC, CBI and other key partners in each region, in a collaborative approach which helps to maintain the health of the local labour markets. This will mean less overlapping of services and fewer resources being wasted. 2.12 The first step is to develop a single plan based on coherent, valid, and accessible information and knowledge about labour markets and skills. This plan will focus on what needs to happen in the region in order to develop a healthy labour market which benefits employers and individuals alike. Government guidance emphasises that the Framework is as much a process as a product. The joint approach to analysis, consultation, communication and planning are at the heart of the process of developing the Frameworks and will be the areas in which they are likely to add the most value. 2.13 Local learning and skills councils (LSCs) are making a major contribution to the delivery of Regional Development Agencies’ own regional skills strategies by securing a range of training provision which links directly to local and regional economic needs. The Regional Development Agencies and local LSCs are working closely together to identify skill needs and to develop an effective strategy for targeting specific action in key sectors, particularly in areas where there have been problems with large-scale redundancy, retention and attracting inward investment. A range of collaborative approaches is also being developed which will further strengthen the links between Regional Development Agencies and local LSCs, including joint development of regional skills observatories. REGIONAL CO-ORDINATION AND PARTNERSHIP 2.14 The Regional Development Agencies are public bodies which are directly accountable to Government Ministers and Parliament. But we recognise the importance of ensuring that broader regional interests are properly represented both in relation to regional economic strategies and on other cross-cutting regional issues, such as transport, land use planning, and improving quality of life. There were no existing region-wide bodies which could perform such a role. This is why the Government supported the establishment of voluntary, multi-party, regional chambers in parallel with the creation of Regional Development Agencies in each of the eight English regions outside London (as set out in Box 2.2). Members of the chambers are drawn from local authorities and the social, economic, and environmental sectors in the region; they are not directly elected. Their core funding is provided by local authorities in their region. All the regional chambers now style themselves ‘assemblies’.
2.15 Increased funding and flexibility for the Regional Development Agencies has been matched with increased regional accountability through a strengthened scrutiny role for the chambers. In March 2001 a new three-year fund of £15 million for the chambers was announced by the Government. The fund enables the chambers to enhance their role in providing regional input to, and scrutinising, the plans and work of the Regional Development Agencies, and to develop their position as the strategic focal point for the regions. Box 2.3 includes some examples of chambers’ activities being taken forward under the fund. The aim is to provide a stronger regional framework for representing the regions’ views. 2.16 Where chambers work effectively they can play a valuable role in expressing the interests of the region as a whole and responding to the needs of the region. The wide cross-section of representatives on the chambers has enabled them to build up effective working relationships at the regional level with a wide range of interests and stakeholders. The chambers have a meaningful role beyond scrutinising the work of their Regional Development Agencies. Better regional planning 2.17 Five chambers – in the North East, North West, South East, South West, and Yorkshire and the Humber – are the recognised regional planning bodies; they produce draft regional planning guidance, which also includes regional transport strategies and regional waste strategies, to be approved and issued by the Government.
2.18 Planning is fundamental to the way our cities, towns, and villages look, the way they work and the way they relate to each other. Regionally based policies are needed for issues such as planning the scale and distribution of new housing, planning for major inward investment sites and other aspects of the regional economic strategies, and for regional transport and waste facilities. 2.19 In December 2001, the Government published a Green Paper (Planning: Delivering a Fundamental Change), setting out proposals for improving the planning system in England. Under these proposals, the new regional spatial strategy will have greater status than old-style regional planning guidance. The Green Paper proposes that the new regional spatial strategies will be statutory. The new-style development plans and local transport plans will be required to be in general conformity with the spatial strategy. The Government is also looking for significant improvements in the quality and inclusive nature of the regional input to match the importance we attach to effective regional strategic planning. Responsibility for issuing the regional spatial strategies will remain with the Government. The Green Paper proposed some criteria for improving the way that regional planning bodies work and invited views on how the current arrangements could be improved. 2.20 The consultation period ended on 18 March, and responses demonstrated support for an inclusive approach to the preparation of the new regional spatial strategies and, on that basis, a strengthened role in planning for all regional chambers. The Government believes that regional planning bodies which involve only local authorities are not sufficiently inclusive and does not propose to recognise them for purposes of the new regional spatial strategies. The chambers are well-placed to assume the role of regional planning body in all English regions outside London. The Government proposes in future to provide direct funding to the chambers for this function – rather than continuing to fund them through upper-tier local authorities. This will take effect as soon as Parliamentary time allows.
Better regional strategies 2.21 The significance of the regional dimension is also reflected in the wide range of strategies that exist at the regional and sub-regional level, prepared by a variety of regional organisations to different timetables. Some strategies are required by law to be produced in each region (such as regional planning guidance – and, in future, regional spatial strategies – and the regional economic strategies). Other strategies are not statutory requirements, although all regions have developed them; examples include regional sustainable development frameworks, regional housing statements, and regional cultural strategies. Information about the main strategies is set out in annex D. Individual regions will often have a number of further strategies or other plans in place in relation to their particular priorities; a profile of arrangements in the North East – including strategies on health improvement, rural issues, energy (now focusing on renewables), biodiversity, tourism, and sport – is shown in the annex as an example. 2.22 Regions have already made significant progress in joining up these strategies. For example, the East Midlands has an ‘integrated regional strategy’, produced by a partnership involving the regional chamber, the Government Office, the Regional Development Agency and others (see Box 2.4). But there is scope in most regions to take a further step towards integrating them. Central government will support this work; for example, in developing detailed proposals on regional spatial strategies we will consider whether more could be done to integrate them with other regional strategies. The Government will also encourage public bodies operating in the regions to improve joining up. However, it will be up to the regions themselves to decide exactly how to take this forward, and the Government will invite regional chambers to take a lead in establishing the best arrangements for their region. 2.23 The regional chambers are well placed to play a prominent part in the work on integrating strategies. They are already closely involved in work on a number of the strategies, including scrutiny of the regional economic strategy and work on regional planning guidance. The Government will encourage the chambers to improve their role in joining up regional strategies. Through money awarded to them under the £15 million chambers fund, the regional chambers are developing their roles in relation to the regional sustainable development frameworks. These frameworks should underpin and thus help to join up all the other regional strategies. Better joint working in the regions
2.24 Joining up regional strategies will require improved working relationships between regional stakeholders. There are a large number of bodies operating in the regions (annex C sets out as an example the range of bodies active in the North East). Whilst each of these organisations has its own specific role, there are often very important connections between their respective objectives. As just one example, the Regional Development Agencies have an objective to improve economic performance. This is closely linked to the objectives of the Learning & Skills Council (skills), Jobcentre Plus (employment), and bodies concerned with housing, transport, and regeneration. The Regional Development Agencies therefore play an important role in bringing together and co-ordinating the key economic players in the region. There are also a host of regional groupings of private, voluntary and public sector bodies (including regional cultural consortia and regional rural forums) which have found it useful to come together and tackle problems at a regional or sub-regional level. 2.25 The Government is proposing to strengthen the existing links which regional bodies have developed and to build on the existing role of regional chambers. We will support the chambers’ work by promoting a constructive dialogue between the chambers and government-funded bodies in their region, building on existing good practice on a range of issues. These bodies will remain directly accountable to Ministers for their activities. They will, however, also be ready to discuss their work with the regional chambers if it has a regional dimension. For example:
It will be for each chamber to decide how they want to organise themselves to work with these other bodies in the region, and the amount of their resource they wish to devote to this. 2.26 Different regions will already have developed different ways of working, and there are a number of effective approaches. The Government will not prescribe from the centre how different regions should co-ordinate their work. However, in addition to strengthening links with the chambers, there is a natural role for the Government Offices in bringing together relevant public sector organisations which work at regional level. This proved effective in Burnley and Oldham in the wake of the disturbances in summer 2001, and was further demonstrated in the response to the foot and mouth disease epidemic. It is becoming increasingly important for government-funded bodies to play a part in providing strategic direction for the regions and fostering regional development, and the Government has sought to ensure that these organisations work constructively together. We therefore intend the Government Offices to provide a forum for other public sector bodies in a region to review their high-level strategies and improve read-across by identifying mutual aims and removing any inconsistencies or duplication between them. This should help to support the wider integration of regional strategies. The Government Departments to whom these regional bodies report will keep under review the extent to which they are involved in joint working at regional level and will provide further advice as necessary. 2.27 The growth of the number of players active in the regions has led to some concern about a lack of clarity on who does what. Some regions have addressed this by drawing up a concordat between the main players which clarifies roles and responsibilities. For example, the West Midlands has a regional concordat – agreed between the Regional Development Agency, chamber, Government Office, and the West Midlands Local Government Association – which provides a framework for regional working and the integration of regional strategies (see Box 2.3). We will invite all regions who do not have a concordat to consider comparable arrangements. Where needed, we will help them to do so in relation to involving government bodies. STRENGTHENED GOVERNANCE IN THE REGIONS 2.28 The Government has given increased flexibility to the Regional Development Agencies to pursue regional objectives within the national context, and has enhanced the regional role in scrutinising these activities through the chambers. We have also developed the role of the Government Offices in the regions. They are still part of central government, accountable to Ministers, but they bring a regional focus and indepth knowledge of their own region to the tasks which other Government Departments have delegated to them. The Government Offices work closely with regional partners and local people to maximise competitiveness and prosperity in the regions and to promote social inclusion. 2.29 The Government Offices now carry out activities on behalf of nine sponsor Departments, and the work of Departments’ other regional networks has been integrated more closely with the work of the Government Offices. By the end of this year 3,040 staff will be based in the Government Offices rather than working in Whitehall – an increase of nearly 600 since 1997.
Note: Figures given include non-industrial and industrial staff and are full-time equivalents. Source: Cabinet Office. 2.30 In 1999 the Performance and Innovation Unit (PIU) conducted a study on how central government could provide better and more efficient delivery of policy and services to people and organisations at local and regional level in England. The study looked in detail at the challenge of achieving better integration of policies at regional and local level, in order to improve delivery of Government objectives. It examined the way that central government works with local authorities, local business and the voluntary sector, and focused on issues that cut across the responsibilities of different Government Departments. This study resulted in the 2000 report Reaching Out: the role of central government at regional and local level. The report concluded that what was needed was:
Key elements of the Government’s response to the PIU report are set out in Box 2.7.
2.31 The Government intends to further strengthen the role of the existing tier of regional governance by delegating more responsibilities to the Government Offices in the regions. The Government Offices will be given extra responsibilities, including:
2.32 These extra responsibilities will ensure that the Government Offices are well placed to reflect the regional dimension on a wider range of policy areas. It will also mean that they are better able to join up policies and programmes with related aims, for example on crime reduction and neighbourhood renewal. The Government will continue to look for further opportunities to integrate more closely other regional activities and networks within Government Office structures in order to improve co-ordination. 2.33 A review of emergency planning arrangements in England and Wales was commissioned following the fuel crisis and severe flooding in the autumn and winter of 2000. An extensive consultation process was undertaken with local authorities and other key stakeholders, the results of which have now been analysed. The Government intends to give an enhanced role for the Government Offices in a national framework for emergency planning. The Emergency Planning Review Implementation Project will explore in more detail what this role should be. BETTER POLICY-MAKING FOR THE REGIONS 2.34 A crucial part of regional policy is understanding the particular needs of individual regions and developing policies and programmes at national level that reflect those priorities. The Government is taking further steps to ensure that it is well placed to respond to each region’s needs, including:
2.35 Arrangements for monitoring the implementation of these proposals and their effectiveness are set out in chapter 9. |
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