Urban Regeneration Agency (Hansard, 13 May 1992)

§ 14. Mr. Wicks
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how the proposed urban regeneration agency will be accountable to Parliament.

§ 16. Mr. Gunnell
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how the proposed urban regeneration agency will be accountable to Parliament.

§ Mr. Howard
The urban regeneration agency will be a sponsored body working under my guidance and reporting direct to me. I shall be accountable to Parliament for its actions.

§ Mr. Wicks
Is not that new quango simply a further attempt to marginalise local authorities? Is not the lesson from the history of 25 years of initiatives and schemes to tackle inner city problems that we need local authorities and local communities to represent their views rather than top-down approaches from London? Surely it is time for the Government to set aside their excitable attacks on local government and to show wisdom on one of the biggest issues facing the nation in the 1990s?

§ Mr. Howard
From what we have seen, in recent years local authorities have been increasingly queuing up for action from London, which is the opposite of the position described by the hon. Member for Croydon, North-West (Mr. Wicks). The hon. Gentleman has totally failed to understand the history of the past few years. Government initiatives have contributed substantially to an improvement of the position in inner cities, and the urban regeneration agency will be able to focus the funds and powers available more effectively and do much to bring hope to the people who live in inner cities.

§ Mr. Gunnell
Will the Secretary of State assure us that when land is acquired by the agency from local authorities, those authorities will be credited with the capital receipt?

§ Mr. Howard
Proper arrangements will have to be made for the provision of compensation when land is taken by the agency. The hon. Gentleman will see the detailed provisions that I shall make when the Bill is published.