HC Deb 12 February 1993 vol 218 cc830-1W
Mr. Anthony Coombs

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment which local authorities will receive assistance from the urban partnership fund; and if he will make a statement on the progress of the capital partnership programme.

Mr. Howard

There has been an enthusiastic response to our invitation to the 57 urban priority authorities to bid for a share of the £20 million urban partnership fund element of capital partnership. I am pleased to announce offers of support to these local authorities and their partnersBirmingham, Bolton, Brent, Bristol, Burnley, Coventry, Derby, Doncaster, Dudley, Gateshead, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith & Fulham, Hartlepool, Hull, Islington, Kirklees, Knowsley, Leeds, Leicester, Lambeth, Langbaurgh, Liverpool, Manchester, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Newham, North Tyneside, Nottingham, Oldham, Plymouth, Preston, Rochdale, Rotherham, Salford, Sandwell, Sefton, Sheffield, South Tyneside, Southwark, Stockton, Sunderland, Wandsworth, Wigan, Wirral, Wolverhampton.

Along with support from the fund, the authorities will make use of about £33 million capital receipts and, taken together, the projects are estimated to lever in over £130 million of private sector resources. The projects will provide a major boost to regeneration activity and continue the partnership approach to renewal which is a central feature of Government inner cities initiatives and crucial to achieving lasting regeneration.

A wide range of project proposals to benefit urban areas and their communities were submitted. Those selected were the ones which best met the criteria. These include: whether the proposals address the needs of local people and business in the area; whether they complement other activity in the area; and value for money, including whether they lever in resources which might otherwise not be available for renewal of the area.

Each authority has today been notified of the outcome of its bid. Authorities whose bids were not successful, due to the heavy demand on the funds available, will naturally be disappointed. We hope that at least some elements of the proposals can be taken forward using their capital receipts.

A full list list of proposed projects has been placed in the Library of the House.

The urban partnership fund is only the first of a number of components of capital partnership for which successful bids will be announced. The others are: Housing Partnership, including the Housing Partnership Fund; Environmental Partnership, including programmes for recycling, waste management, contaminated land and landfill gas; and Countryside Partnership, covering programmes of the Rural Development Commission and Countryside Commission.