City Pride Initiative (Hansard, 6 November 1996)

§ Mr. Gummer

I am today announcing a challenge to seven new areas to join the successful city pride initiative. The seven areas are:

Bristol;
Leeds;
Liverpool, Birkenhead, Wallasey and Bootle;
Newcastle upon Tyne;
Nottingham, Ashfield, Broxtowe, Gedling and Rushcliffe;
Plymouth;
Sheffield.

City pride has already forged partnerships in Birmingham, London and Manchester in an unprecedented way. Local people have come together with a vision for their areas and have agreed the practical steps for achieving that vision. City pride has already produced considerable benefits in terms of a shared understanding between public and private sector partners about the opportunities, priorities and needs of their areas. I want to challenge other great industrial or port cities of regional importance to match this achievement.

I am writing today to the civic leaders in these seven areas to invite them to come forward with city pride proposals. I want them to develop a vision for their areas and set out the steps needed to achieve it.

Each of the seven areas is served by a Government sponsor Minister, whose responsibilities include encouraging regeneration initiatives in their area and providing a link with Whitehall Departments. I know that sponsor Minister colleagues will be working closely with the civic leaders of their areas to make city pride a success. Part of their task will be to encourage central Government programmes to work effectively alongside the local vision.

Before working up a full prospectus, city pride areas will need to satisfy four conditions. First, city pride partnerships must show that they have the capacity to deliver what they promise to local people, including a clear understanding of what each partner is prepared to contribute. Secondly, there must be a clear vision and planned targets, with an emphasis on achieving results and effective arrangements for tracking progress. Thirdly, the geographical area and population which city pride is intended to cover should be defined and be appropriate to the vision. Fourthly, there must be arrangements for involving and accounting to local people in achieving city pride goals.

I am not ruling out other areas coming forward with city pride proposals, but putting together a successful city pride prospectus and making it work requires a good deal of concentrated effort on the part of areas themselves and by Government offices for the regions and we therefore need to limit numbers. There is, of course, nothing to stop other areas from applying city pride principles, and, indeed, some are already doing so.

532W