|
Home > Scoping Paper > Next steps
Next steps
The introduction of Regional Housing Boards, Regional Housing Strategies
and the single housing pot is a major set of changes, and the full
implications are still being worked through. National targets, including
those for Decent Homes and the Housing Corporation's rural and off-site
manufacture targets, remain in place.
Regarding funding, the single housing pot for the North
West will total £243.0 million for 2004/05 and £249.5
million for 2005/06. Ministers have indicated that they expect 70%
of Housing Investment Programme funding to be allocated to local
authorities according to the existing national formulaic measure
of need for the first two years of the new arrangements (2004-05
and 2005-06), unless the Regional Housing Strategy makes a strong
case to do otherwise, and pre-commitments of future Approved Development
Programme resources will be honoured. The Board will seek to reflect
its priorities in the distribution of the remaining 'free' funds
available to it (say 30% of the total), and they are working on
the basis of constructing a two year programme, managed by Government
Office and the Housing Corporation. This may include a proportion
of funds set aside to enable the Board to commission a small number
of projects aimed at developing new approaches to delivering against
one or more of the regional priorities, complementing a more formulaic
distribution for the remainder of the 'free' 30% in support of the
identified priorities. Timing constraints mean that this is likely
to begin from year 2 (i.e. 2005-06).
However, an additional £6 million per year for the next two
years was announced in the Communities Plan for private sector
renewal activity by local authorities. We are investigating
the potential for this to be used to support innovative proposals
using the extended powers available to local authorities via the
Regulatory Reform Order , matched by a similar sum from the single
housing pot for RSL involvement. This would begin in year 1 (i.e.
2004-05), and the Board is looking to a commissioning (rather than
bidding) approach, to encourage innovation and collaborative working
- further details will follow as soon as possible.
Clearly, the new arrangements will require some system of monitoring.
The Board's responsibility to Ministers will be to ensure that the
regional priorities are being effectively addressed by those receiving
single housing pot resources. The precise mechanisms for this have
yet to be decided, but the Board's interest is likely to be focused
on the delivery of strategic outcomes and providing Ministers with
evidence of real progress in terms of achieving sustainable communities.
One important part of that will be the monitoring of housing markets
across the North West.
Another aspect will be the availability of sufficient skilled personnel
to deliver the programmes the Board hopes to fund - whether
in construction and related trades, or in regeneration, housing
management or neighbourhood renewal professionals. The North West
Development Agency are already at work on these issues, and the
Board will seek to support them as far as possible.
The concept of sustainable development runs throughout the
strategy. Sustainable development encompasses economic growth, environmental
protection/enhancement and social inclusion. The regional housing
strategy seeks to complement sustainable patterns of spatial development
and physical change as set out in Regional Planning Guidance and
the economic development framework set out in the Regional Economic
Strategy . As such all three documents will contribute to the delivery
of the Regional Sustainable Development Framework "Action for
Sustainability" .
To ensure that sustainable development principles are embedded throughout
the Regional Housing Strategy, it is proposed to undertake a sustainability
appraisal of the Regional Housing Strategy. This will use the social,
environmental and economic criteria contained in the "Integrated
Appraisal Toolkit", based on the regionally agreed objectives
in Action for Sustainability. The toolkit is being developed by
the North West Regional Assembly with a range of regional and local
partners. The results of the Sustainability Appraisal will be published
separately. We will also be looking specifically at how the Strategy
measures up in relation to both rural and black and minority ethnic
agendas, with the help of the Countryside Agency's rural proofing
toolkit and the regional Ethnic Minority Housing Forum respectively.
The sub-regional implications of this new approach to regional
housing strategy development also need to be worked through. Sub-regional
working has been picking up in pace and impact in various parts
of the North West, often driven by the need to tackle common issues,
and by recognition of the benefits of sharing ideas and workload
between agencies in an area. At the same time, recognition that
housing markets are oblivious to local authority boundaries has
produced a need to work on cross-boundary solutions, of which the
Pathfinders are the most obvious (but not the only) example. The
Board are keen to encourage collaborative working of this kind,
and it seems likely that delivery of the regional housing strategy
will have to include significant sub-regional components. There
may also be an important role for sub-regions to influence developing
regional strategy through their own analysis of issues and potential
solutions and models. The Board would welcome any such contributions
from sub-regional partnerships.
|
