§ 12.40 p.m.
§ Earl Howe rose to move, That the order laid before the House on 17th February be approved [14th Report from the Joint Committee].
§ The noble Earl said: My Lords, the purpose of the order that we are debating today is to set up the Birmingham Heartlands Development Corporation. Historically, the heartlands area has been the industrial powerhouse of Birmingham—a teeming mass of manufacturing firms in the traditional engineering fields for which the West Midlands is rightly famous. In the early 1980s it suffered, together 1128 with so many other parts of our inner cities, from a significant loss of manufacturing capacity; and although that shake out brought with it a regrettable loss of jobs it also brought an opportunity to remodel this part of the city by reclaiming and redeveloping a number of major vacant sites. In 1986 no less than 300 acres of land in the heartlands area was statutorily derelict and a great deal more was neglected or under-used. Indeed, it was considered as a serious candidate for UDC status in 1986 at the time when the second generation development corporations were being set up.
§ But Birmingham City Council made very strong representations to allow the council, working in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce and a consortium of developers, to launch a homegrown alternative to an urban development corporation. We acceded because there was such evidence of local good will and genuine co-operation between public and private sectors in Birmingham at that time; and after a lengthy period of negotiations between the partners, Birmingham Heartlands Limited came into being in March 1988.
§ It is a tribute to the partners in that heartlands initiative that their commitment to the cause of East Birmingham has not faltered. But they will freely admit that, despite their great enthusiasm, the pace of redevelopment has fallen far short of the hopes in 1988 and there is so much still to do. As a percentage of the workforce, unemployment in the area currently stands at 27 per cent. About 10 per cent. of the heartlands area is statutorily derelict and about 100 vacant sites, which vary in size from 60 to many under two acres, remain in need of reclamation or redevelopment.
§ My right honourable friend the Secretary of State has taken a very close interest in the heartlands experiment to date. He made a number of visits during 1991 to assess the progress and problems on the ground. He was, therefore, sympathetic to the case put to him formally by Birmingham Heartlands Limited and Birmingham City Council in September 1991 that statutory UDC status for the heartlands area of East Birmingham would now bring considerable regeneration benefits. The Secretary of State has therefore agreed that a statutory UDC for the Birmingham heartlands area be set up.
§ We envisage that the lifetime of the Birmingham Heartlands UDC will be five years. Much valuable preparatory work has already been done and a basic development strategy, based on an original study by Roger Tym and partners in 1987, has met with general acceptance locally. The heartlands plan is already widely understood by the development industry.
§ The Birmingham Heartlands Development Corporation will have resources committed from the Department of the Environment of £50 million during a five-year period from April 1992. For year one, when inevitably there will be some time in the early part of the year before the corporation is at full working strength, we propose to set aside £8.5 million.
§ The development corporation will have powers to assemble land using compulsory purchase where necessary. It will be able to undertake land reclamation, provide serviced sites for development 1129 and offer grants to the private sector to secure the regeneration of its area. It is also intended that the development corporation takes over the role of planning authority for its area from the city council. To this end a planning functions order has been prepared and will be made immediately after the constitution and area order which we are debating today comes into force. It will be laid as soon as possible thereafter. We believe that it is desirable for a UDC to be a one stop shop for planning purposes. Nevertheless, we acknowledge that in the atmosphere of co-operation that exists in Birmingham there will be scope for agency arrangements to enable the city council to carry out much of the preliminary work on development control.
§ The Secretary of State will be appointing Sir Reginald Eyre as chairman of the new development corporation. Your Lordships may be aware that Sir Reginald has been chairman of Birmingham Heartlands Limited since its inception, and he will bring invaluable local expertise to the new UDC. It is also our intention that Sir Richard Knowles, currently deputy chairman of Birmingham Heartlands Limited and leader of Birmingham City Council, should be appointed deputy chairman of the UDC. There will be a further 10 members appointed—five from the city council and five from the private sector. The structure of the board, therefore, with strong local authority representation, will recognise the unique quality of partnership between the public and private sectors in East Birmingham.
§ I should emphasise that there have been extensive discussions locally about the proposal. All the interested parties in Birmingham support the creation of an urban development corporation which can operate along the lines that I have described.
§ By approving the order today the House will bring new confidence in the future to the heartlands area of East Birmingham. Those involved in the heartlands Venture since 1988 have had the foresight to see that sustainable regeneration for this part of Birmingham depends on having clear powers, reliable resources and the right structure. A UDC will be able to tackle the problems of East Birmingham with a balanced programme. It will link development opportunities to the employment needs and wider aspirations of local residents. It will offer wider housing choice, a greener environment and a better business climate. It will offer, quite simply, a brighter future for the people of East Birmingham. I beg to move.
§ Moved, That the order laid before the House on 17th February be approved [14th Report from the Joint Committee].—(Earl Howe.)
§ On Question, Motion agreed to.