Regeneration plans lack clarity, say MPs

The Committee thinks plans outlined in Regeneration to enable growth: What Government is doing in support of community-led regeneration (DCLG) (listed below) lack strategic direction and focuses overwhelmingly upon the achievement of economic growth, giving little emphasis to the specific issues faced by deprived communities and areas of market failure.

The proposed measures are unlikely to bring in sufficient resources.

Funding for regeneration has been reduced dramatically and disproportionately over the past two years, and unless alternative sources can be found, there is a risk of problems being stored up for the future.

Also lacking is a strategy for attracting private sector investment. And the document gives too much prominence to changes to the planning system and does not acknowledge the benefits effective planning has brought to regeneration.

The financial and economic climate has impacted dramatically upon regeneration, but the withdrawal of Housing Market Renewal Funding in particular has created significant problems, leaving many residents trapped in half-abandoned streets.

The Committee suggests a number of measures that could, as part of a wider approach, contribute to stimulating regeneration and incentivising private sector involvement.

The Government should now produce a national regeneration strategy which sets out a coherent approach to tackling deprivation and market failure in the country's most disadvantaged areas.

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