Prosperous Places; taking forward the Review of Sub-national Economic Development and Regeneration…
Editorial
Though this is important reading for local authorities and RDAs, for many SLIM-lines readers the consultation document is something that needn’t trouble them immediately, but the impacts will be felt soon enough. The consultation document for the Sub-National Review of Economic Development and Regeneration (SNR) was published by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) on 31 March 2008. A 12 week consultation is now open and will run until 20 June 2008.
Casting our minds back to 16 July 2007 the Government announced the initial outcomes from the Sub-National Review of Economic Development and Regeneration. Not unexpectedly, the SNR has a number of implications for the way in which organisations work together at a regional and a sub-regional level.
Whilst the headlines emerging from the review are relatively clear, the detail of how the recommendations will be implemented has yet to be developed. There will however be a single over-arching regional plan that will need Local AND Governmental approval. So let’s start sympathising already with the RDA employee charged with writing said report and getting approval from such disparate bodies.
The Government has made it clear that existing regional agencies (such as the Regional Assembly – earmarked for closure in 2010), and other groupings of local authorities will all have a key role to play in helping to shape the detail of how the region wishes to work in the future.
Andy Dean
This comment is available to download [.pdf 48KB]
Background Summary of the Consultation
In July 2007 the Government published the review of sub-national economic development and regeneration (SNR). This provides the framework that will enable central and local government and other partners to work together to help maximise prosperity in all parts of England and tackle social deprivation and inequality.
The reforms set out in the SNR will enable regional, sub-regional and local partners to tailor solutions to their specific problems, making best use of available talent and opportunities. They will help to ensure that decisions are taken at the right level to be effective and that decision makers have the right tools at their disposal. The reforms will help places to provide an economic environment that enables business to adapt to and create new technologies and opportunities. They will contribute to growth, jobs and wealth in a low carbon economy and reduce the disparities between the regions.
The reforms set out in the SNR will enable regional, sub-regional and local partners to tailor solutions to their specific problems, making best use of available talent and opportunities. They will help to ensure that decisions are taken at the right level to be effective and that decision makers have the right tools at their disposal. The reforms will help places to provide an economic environment that enables business to adapt to and create new technologies and opportunities. They will contribute to growth, jobs and wealth in a low carbon economy and reduce the disparities between the regions.
This consultation sets out and seeks views on the proposals contained in the SNR for putting in place reforms that would:
- streamlines the regional tier, introducing integrated strategies and giving the regional development agencies (RDAs) lead responsibility for regional planning;
- strengthens the local authority role in economic development, including a new statutory duty to assess local economic conditions; and
- supports collaboration by local authorities across economic areas.
While this consultation will be of particular interest to those agencies and authorities directly affected by the proposed changes to structures and working relationships, the impact of the changes will be much further reaching.
Stronger partnerships for regional growth
The SNR elevates the importance of both business-led RDAs and democratically mandated local authorities to achieve improved economic outcomes. It demands a strong and deep partnership to be built to ensure complementary regional and local economic, housing, planning, transport and low carbon priorities. Regions will have the opportunity to develop their own mechanisms for achieving this.
Having considered responses to this consultation on how it should be achieved, the Government will bring forward legislation that will give RDAs responsibility for regional planning alongside regional sustainable economic growth, within a new regional strategy. This wider strategic role will mean significant change to what RDAs do, how they operate and how they work with local authorities in their region.
As the SNR made clear, economic development should be carried out at the most appropriate level. RDAs will become more strategic bodies in line with devolved decision-making principles. RDAs will continue to deliver and manage services that are best implemented at the regional level, working with a range of delivery agents and working closely with the private sector. Those services include business support, co-coordinating inward investment, support for innovation and responding to economic shocks.
The Government’s expectation is that, as capacity increases, RDAs will delegate an increasing amount of their funding to those best placed to deliver economic improvements (local authorities, sub-regions and other delivery bodies), within the framework of the regional strategy.
The RDA will lead the development of the regional strategy and its implementation, working with local authorities and other interests in the region, including business. The Government proposes that a forum of local authority leaders, representing all local authorities in the region, would sign off the draft strategy and help to hold the RDA and its regional delivery partners to account. The Government believes that local authorities themselves should decide the most effective structure for a leaders’ forum and we expect that this will differ between regions.
Under the SNR reforms, regional assemblies will not continue in their current form. Assemblies, which are responsible for regional planning, include representatives from a broad cross-section of stakeholders. The new arrangements will place a premium on effective stakeholder engagement and management, on which the Government expects the RDAs to lead.
Having considered responses to this consultation on how it should be achieved, the Government will bring forward legislation that will give RDAs responsibility for regional planning alongside regional sustainable economic growth, within a new regional strategy. This wider strategic role will mean significant change to what RDAs do, how they operate and how they work with local authorities in their region.
As the SNR made clear, economic development should be carried out at the most appropriate level. RDAs will become more strategic bodies in line with devolved decision-making principles. RDAs will continue to deliver and manage services that are best implemented at the regional level, working with a range of delivery agents and working closely with the private sector. Those services include business support, co-coordinating inward investment, support for innovation and responding to economic shocks.
The Government’s expectation is that, as capacity increases, RDAs will delegate an increasing amount of their funding to those best placed to deliver economic improvements (local authorities, sub-regions and other delivery bodies), within the framework of the regional strategy.
The RDA will lead the development of the regional strategy and its implementation, working with local authorities and other interests in the region, including business. The Government proposes that a forum of local authority leaders, representing all local authorities in the region, would sign off the draft strategy and help to hold the RDA and its regional delivery partners to account. The Government believes that local authorities themselves should decide the most effective structure for a leaders’ forum and we expect that this will differ between regions.
Under the SNR reforms, regional assemblies will not continue in their current form. Assemblies, which are responsible for regional planning, include representatives from a broad cross-section of stakeholders. The new arrangements will place a premium on effective stakeholder engagement and management, on which the Government expects the RDAs to lead.
Integrating regional strategies to promote regional growth
The new, integrated, regional strategies will replace the regional economic strategies (RES) and regional spatial strategies. The strategies should set out, for each region, a vision of how and where sustainable economic growth would be delivered. They should steer the activities, plans and investment decisions of the RDA, local authorities and other regional partners and be underpinned by the principles of sustainable development.
Effective consultation and engagement with stakeholders, business and citizens in each region will be essential. In order to achieve this, greater clarity will be provided on national priority expectations at the beginning of the process. The evidence base used to develop the strategy will be strengthened.
The RDA will lead the development of the strategy and be responsible for agreeing the draft with the local authority leaders’ forum. The Secretaries of State for CLG and BERR will approve the strategy on behalf of Government. If regional partners fail to agree a draft strategy, the RDA would submit the draft to Ministers noting points of disagreement.
To encourage a greater focus on delivery, it is important that partners agree how they will contribute to meeting the strategy’s objectives.
The Government is considering whether it should require a delivery plan setting out actions and investment priorities, and the nature of accountability arrangements for such a plan.
Effective consultation and engagement with stakeholders, business and citizens in each region will be essential. In order to achieve this, greater clarity will be provided on national priority expectations at the beginning of the process. The evidence base used to develop the strategy will be strengthened.
The RDA will lead the development of the strategy and be responsible for agreeing the draft with the local authority leaders’ forum. The Secretaries of State for CLG and BERR will approve the strategy on behalf of Government. If regional partners fail to agree a draft strategy, the RDA would submit the draft to Ministers noting points of disagreement.
To encourage a greater focus on delivery, it is important that partners agree how they will contribute to meeting the strategy’s objectives.
The Government is considering whether it should require a delivery plan setting out actions and investment priorities, and the nature of accountability arrangements for such a plan.
Strengthening sub-regional economies – the role of local authorities
Local authorities need to play a stronger role in delivering economic development in their area, building on their power to promote well-being.
This document consults on the creation of a focused statutory economic assessment duty for upper tier and unitary local authorities. The results of this assessment would contribute to the analytical underpinning of sustainable community strategies, local development frameworks, local and multi-area agreement targets and the regional strategy.
The assessment would provide an improved shared economic evidence base, enhancing local authority capability and capacity on economic development issues and ensuring more effective prioritisation of economic development and regeneration interventions. It would also help local authorities to contribute to the development of the regional strategy. The new duty is likely to result in additional costs to local authorities, which will be assessed and met in line with the Government’s new burdens principles.
This document consults on the creation of a focused statutory economic assessment duty for upper tier and unitary local authorities. The results of this assessment would contribute to the analytical underpinning of sustainable community strategies, local development frameworks, local and multi-area agreement targets and the regional strategy.
The assessment would provide an improved shared economic evidence base, enhancing local authority capability and capacity on economic development issues and ensuring more effective prioritisation of economic development and regeneration interventions. It would also help local authorities to contribute to the development of the regional strategy. The new duty is likely to result in additional costs to local authorities, which will be assessed and met in line with the Government’s new burdens principles.
Collaboration across sub-regions
The SNR set out the advantages of economic development decision-making at a sub-regional level. The Government is introducing multi-area agreements (MAAs) to enable local authorities to improve economic prosperity by working across administrative boundaries. The Government is committed to legislate to allow development of formal legal status for collaborative arrangements, subject to feedback from this consultation.
Any new arrangements should adhere to four fundamental principles they should:
Any new arrangements should adhere to four fundamental principles they should:
- not be based on collaboration between elected members of existing local authorities;
- not include any additional council tax precept;
- not impose additional net costs on local authorities;
- and they should provide transparent accountability for residents.
The Government believes that the focus for new sub-regional arrangements should be economic development. However, the Government is prepared to consider a wider range of functions and does not wish to be prescriptive about these nor the functional economic areas that might be covered, believing that interested partners should develop proposals to reflect their local priorities and circumstances.
Some Questions, Responses and some Implications for the South West
By now most people that will be directly affected by the SNR changes will be pretty familiar with the major themes and structural changes. Responses have largely focused on the bigger picture, the Local Government Association (never fans of RDAs at the best of times) have responded, about the ‘democratic deficit’ of transferring power from the Regional Assemblies to RDAs and in particular about the need to ensure local authorities maintain the power to control the content of the Single Regional Strategy. They object to the caveat that if RDAs cannot gain full agreement of the Strategy – it can be submitted to Government to decide. I cannot help but feel though that without this in the background, strategies could end up particularly bland and left struggling to keep everybody happy, irrespective of the weight of need and evidence.
The consultation states that “the evidence-base used to develop the strategy will be strengthened”. Certainly experience tells me that some Local Authorities will need to develop their capacity and there must be opportunities to hard-wire (you see I do know the buzz-words)… to hard-wire the LINs into the Review writing and Evidence Building process. The South West Observatory structure, where LINs can call upon expert support from specialist thematic modules (like SLIM), seems well adapted to these new demands.
Here in the South West we (SLIM) have been working very closely with the Regional Skills Partnership (RSP) on developing regional skills priorities. What happens to these in the new system? If the local authorities decide that regional priorities like Leadership and Management or Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) are not important in their areas? Is there a danger that democratically mandated local authorities will seek regional priorities so bland and all-encompassing that they allow scope for all different local interests? Issues like this will have to be teased out and I’m pleased that we’ve started already – there is a workshop on the 28th looking at local and regional linkage with a focus on Employment and Skills Boards.
Ultimately, I would conclude that in the South West we are well positioned to make whatever changes that result from the consultation into workable reality. We have the right structures (Observatory, modules, RSP), and an expanding evidence-base within local authorities and LINs that should enable effective regional and local working. Let’s hope that this good start can be built on.
I will end with two excerpts from SW Press Releases – one from the RDA and one from the Regional Assembly:
The consultation states that “the evidence-base used to develop the strategy will be strengthened”. Certainly experience tells me that some Local Authorities will need to develop their capacity and there must be opportunities to hard-wire (you see I do know the buzz-words)… to hard-wire the LINs into the Review writing and Evidence Building process. The South West Observatory structure, where LINs can call upon expert support from specialist thematic modules (like SLIM), seems well adapted to these new demands.
Here in the South West we (SLIM) have been working very closely with the Regional Skills Partnership (RSP) on developing regional skills priorities. What happens to these in the new system? If the local authorities decide that regional priorities like Leadership and Management or Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) are not important in their areas? Is there a danger that democratically mandated local authorities will seek regional priorities so bland and all-encompassing that they allow scope for all different local interests? Issues like this will have to be teased out and I’m pleased that we’ve started already – there is a workshop on the 28th looking at local and regional linkage with a focus on Employment and Skills Boards.
Ultimately, I would conclude that in the South West we are well positioned to make whatever changes that result from the consultation into workable reality. We have the right structures (Observatory, modules, RSP), and an expanding evidence-base within local authorities and LINs that should enable effective regional and local working. Let’s hope that this good start can be built on.
I will end with two excerpts from SW Press Releases – one from the RDA and one from the Regional Assembly:
The South West Regional Assembly:
Since the announcement of the Sub-National Review in July 2007, the way local authorities might work together regionally, as well as arrangements for input from Social, Economic and Environmental stakeholders, has been the subject of ongoing discussions. South West Council Leaders have met to agree key principles for the establishment of any future arrangements. Regional Assembly and South West Local Government Association Leaders have also been meeting on a regular basis to discuss potential changes to the organisations. There is an emerging consensus that:
- there should be strong, democratically based, arrangements at the regional level to balance the strengthened executive RDA
- the new arrangements should be inclusive of all Local Authorities while recognising the need for a smaller leadership group which can act strategically and negotiate directly with government on the region’s behalf on policy and resource issues
- new arrangements should facilitate effective oversight and scrutiny of the RDA and other executive agencies by the Local Authorities at regional and sub regional level with an emphasis at regional level on the 'policy development' method of scrutiny associated with the development and delivery of the Single Regional Strategy
- these new arrangements should recognise the different role of Local Authorities and the Assembly Social Economic and Environment Partners (SEEPs) for whom separate arrangements with the RDA should be made recognising their expert role
The Sub National Review is a critically important document for the South West that will affect the way the public sector addresses regional planning and economic development over the next decade. It offers a number opportunities and challenges. It will require joint, constructive working between various organisations - with the RDA in a pivotal role.
Colin Molton, the South West RDAs Deputy Chief Executive:
The new Single Regional Strategy, which will be an integrated blueprint for the region, if done right, could enable us to build an economy - from planning through to housing and transport - that will remove the barriers to growth. In taking this forward we will build on our own work on the Regional Economic Strategy and the existing Regional Spatial Strategy that was put together by the Regional Assembly following a comprehensive and public process over the last three years… In taking on the regional planning role, we must ensure that it delivers a joined-up approach to regional planning, and we are already working with the Regional Assembly to ensure a smooth transition.
In conclusion - the Review confirms the RDA's important role in economic development. Given the length and the complexity of the consultation document, all parties would be advised to take some time to fully reflect on its recommendations and implications.
In conclusion - the Review confirms the RDA's important role in economic development. Given the length and the complexity of the consultation document, all parties would be advised to take some time to fully reflect on its recommendations and implications.
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