135 research outputs found
The governance of economic regeneration in England: Emerging practice and issues
How spatial economies are governed across the different places of England recently (re)commenced a process of fervent renegotiation following the 2010 election of a coalition government. As the third paper in a series examining state-led restructuring of sub-national development, the principal concern and analytical focus of this paper is the evolving governance landscape. Based on a review of Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), the state reterritorialisation strategy is explored. Analysing the motives, interests, attributes and accountability of some primary actors entangled in these new and recast multilevel governance networks, the paper directs some much needed critical attention towards âthe whoâ aspects of economic regeneration partnership working. The paper argues that if LEPs are to be understood as a radical departure from what has gone before, then the form and mode of governance must, in turn, undergo a radical transformation of substance that transcends symbolic politics
Blots on the landscape
Since April 2008, when the Rating (Empty Properties) Act came into effect in England and Wales, empty commercial property has been liable for the full business rate following an initial rate-free period of three months, or six months for industrial premises. Previously, empty commercial property, such as retail space and offices, received 100 per cent relief from paying business rates for the first three months and were only liable to a 50 per cent rate thereafter. Industrial units, such as factories and warehouses, previously received 100 per cent rate exemption in perpetuity. As of April 2009, non-domestic properties with a rateable value of less than ÂŁ15,000 will receive a one year rate relief âholidayâ. Analysing these reforms I investigate a scenario that has been dubbed âBombsite Britainâ by practitioners as many property owners opt to demolish their buildings in order to avoid the âstealth taxâ. With other property owners resorting to âconstructive vandalismâ, including removing building roofs, I investigate the visual and design impact this is having on Britainâs urban landscape. I make the case that these blots on the urban landscape are having a detrimental impact on Britainâs urban renaissance and go against Government sustainability and design quality aspirations
APPG on local growth, local enterprise partnerships and enterprise zones - memorandum of written evidence
The evidence summarised in this submission is based on the national research project: From Regionalism to Localism: Cross Country LEPs. The aim of this research is to monitor what steps are being taken by LEPs to support businesses to create jobs and support the development of local economies. The research explores the issues arising from the formation of the LEPs over their first three years, 2010-2013 and is monitoring the journey of the LEPs nationally. LEPs are the chief vehicle for economic development within the context of localism but are delivering national level initiatives, such as Enterprise Zones. Indeed, they have been set a considerable challenge â uniting business, public and community interests in a way that enables the economic regeneration and growth of local places. The research focuses on four particular âregionsâ: the North East; Yorkshire and the Humber; the West Midlands and the South West
New directions in economic development: localist policy discourses and the Localism Act
Since entering office in 2010, a distinct grammar of localism has pervaded the UK Governmentâs philosophical outlook, which has inflected localist policy discourses and practice. Now that the Coalition administrationâs âlocalâ economic development policy is becoming a little clearer, it is timely to consider the implications of this new grammar for the scope, organisation and mobilisation of economic development interventions. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to trace new and emergent directions in economic development through a focus on the 2011 Localism Act, which applies to England and Wales. The paper interprets these changes through a localist conceptual prism, which helps to refract different varieties of localism. The findings raise some serious concerns regarding localism in action and expose the controlling tendencies of central government. Analysis is also directed towards the uneasy relationship between centralised powers, conditional decentralisation and fragmented localism. Nevertheless, some cases of emergent practice are utilised to demonstrate how âconstrained freedomsâ can be negotiated to undertake innovative actions. The paper concludes by suggesting some foundational elements that would support the notion of âempowered localitiesâ and may also secure the governmentâs imperative to enable private sector-led growth
The scalar politics of economic planning
Across England, modes of governing larger-than-local development strategies are undergoing far-reaching change. In particular, the new government of 2010 has a political and financial mission of rescaling and simplifying sub-national economic planning. Alongside the revocation of myriad and sometimes unpopular regional strategies, their supportive institutional structures are being rapidly disbanded, opening up a strategic leadership gap or fissure between national and local scales of policy. Analysing the theory and processes of spatial rescaling, including the emergence of new geographies of governance at the sub-regional scale, the paper draws attention to some of the key opportunities and dilemmas arising from these âscalar shiftsâ. The economic planning roles of the new, cross-boundary entrepreneurial governance entities â Local Enterprise Partnerships â are explored. A key question is whether these public-private arrangements, across what were intended as âfunctionalâ economic areas, present a pragmatic way of resolving the strategic tensions between local authority areas that would otherwise be neglected in a post-regional era. The research is based on national monitoring of policy shifts and draws upon participatory observation as an instrument to enrich more formal policy narratives. The paper finds these new bodies lack powers and funding, and concludes that state-led rescaling in effect provides a new âcoverâ for some old politics; namely neoliberalism including the deepening of entrepreneurial forms of governance.
Key words: Strategic planning, sub-national development, economic planning, entrepreneurial governance and Local Enterprise Partnership
After Regions: what next for local enterprise partnerships?
Standing out as an oddity in comparison to the convergence of policy across EU nations whereby the merits of regional apparatus â however defined â for administering development support appear to be accepted, the UK Government has abandoned Englandâs experiment with regionalism. Under the banner of localism, providing the thinnest of masks for swingeing public expenditure cuts, sub-national development activity (encompassing planning, regeneration, infrastructure development, enterprise support and spatial leadership) is in the throes of considerable economic shifts, policy flux and institutional upheaval (Ward & Hardy, 2012). This article attempts to address some of the questions posed in The regional lacuna: a preliminary map of the transition from Regional Development Agencies to Local Economic Partnerships (Pugalis, 2011) and helps to advance some of the points relating to the emerging sub-national development landscape published in recent issues of Regions (e.g. Bailey, 2011). The purpose is to take stock of policy developments underway by means of a post-regional sub-national review in order to outline the future development trajectory of Local Enterprise Partnerships
LEPs â living up to the hype? The changing framework for regional economic development and localism in the UK
From when the idea of local enterprise partnerships was first floated in the run-up to the May 2010 general election, there has been fervent discussion and steadfast work by the Coalition government to replace the nine regional development agencies of England with the new LEPS. Vince Cable MP called the decision to abolish the RDAs the Coalitionâs âMaoist momentâ. Thirteen years of work to establish a comprehensive system of regional development for England has since been abolished and abandoned. The philosophy and rationale for the establishment of the RDAs was set out in the 1997 white paper Building Partnerships for Prosperity: Sustainability, Growth, Competitiveness and Employment in the English Regions. Their main promoter was John Prescott MP, then deputy prime minister under the Blair government. This chapter examines whether LEPs are living up to the hype
Evidence submitted to the BIS Select Committee consultation on Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) and the Regional Growth Fund (RGF)
The evidence summarised in this submission is based on the national research project: From Regionalism to Localism: Cross Country LEPs. The aim of this research is to monitor what steps are being taken by LEPs to support businesses to create jobs and support the development of local economies. The research explores the issues arising from the formation of the LEPs over their first three years, 2010-2013 and is monitoring the journey of the LEPs nationally. LEPs are the chief vehicle for economic development within the context of localism but are delivering national level initiatives, such as Enterprise Zones. Indeed, they have been set a considerable challenge â uniting business, public and community interests in a way that enables the economic regeneration and growth of local places. The research drills-down to focus on four particular âregionsâ: the North East; Yorkshire and the Humber; the West Midlands and the South West. Some of the project teamâs initial and emerging research outputs are appended to this submission
Chalk and Cheese: A comparison of England and Scotlandâs emerging approaches to regeneration
To suggest that the Department for Communities and Local Governmentâs (DCLGâs) publication Regeneration to Enable Growth: What Government Is Doing in Support of Community-Led Regeneration, issued in early 2011, was a disappointment to many is something of an understatement. Consequently, the House of Commons Communities and Local Government (CLG) Select Committeeâs verdict on the Coalition Governmentâs regeneration strategy for England was keenly awaited by commentators and practitioners alike. Regeneration, the CLG Select Committeeâs report published on 3 November 2011, certainly did not pull any punches, focusing in particular on the Governmentâs âdifferent approachâ to regeneration and its likely effectiveness.
This article reviews the current condition of regeneration policy in England â set against the views of the Select Committee and those submitting evidence to it and the Governmentâs response to its findings, and in comparison with the Scottish Governmentâs new regeneration strategy, set out in Achieving a Sustainable Future â and considers whether it is fit for purpose
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