Regional Development Agencies: Strategies (Hansard, 15 April 1999)

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Lord Whitty)

Developing a new strategic vision for the English regions will be the first and most important task for the RDAs. We are issuing statutory guidance to advise them on what Government expect of their strategies. The guidance has been prepared in consultation with all relevant government departments, in particular the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department for Education and Employment. Its publication follows a wide public consultation launched last October. The comments we received enabled us to refine the guidance and we are grateful to all those who responded to our request for comments.

The fundamental purpose of RDAs' strategies will be to improve regional economic performance and enhance regional competitiveness. The guidance stresses the need for RDAs to develop an integrated and sustainable approach in their strategies. The aim should be to tackle business competitiveness and the need to increase productivity and to address also the underlying problems of unemployment, skills shortages, inequalities, social exclusion and physical decay. By integrating economic, social and environmental issues in this way, the strategies will set the context for sustainable economic growth in the English regions.

We want the RDAs' strategies to support and enhance national policies while addressing the particular needs of regions. In this way they will be able to inform and influence national government's economic policies and to provide a framework for the delivery of national and European programmes.

RDAs' strategies will provide focus and coherence not only to the RDAs' own work, but also to the work of their regional partners. The strategies should be the product of regional dialogue, and should identify priorities for action which regional partners can buy into and help to deliver. Only through strong and effective partnership will the RDAs ensure that their strategies command support. Their relationship with the emerging regional chambers will be of particular importance.

We are also giving to the RDAs today a supplementary package of non-statutory policy and programme guidance to underpin the statutory guidance on their strategies. This will include material on regeneration, competitiveness, skills, sustainable development, rural policy, equal opportunities and working with the voluntary and community sectors.

Copies of all the guidance have been placed in the Library and will also be available on the DETR Website.