§ Mr. LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many of the recommendations contained in the report on urban regeneration by Lord Rogers (1) have been implemented by the Government; [114410]
(2) he will have implemented by the end of 2000. [114411]
15W
§ Ms ArmstrongThe Urban Task Force report "Towards an Urban Renaissance" made more than 100 forward-thinking recommendations about how to revitalise our towns and cities. It formed an excellent contribution to the debate on how to reverse the social, physical and economic decline that many of our urban areas have faced in recent decades.
The Government are looking at the report's recommendations in detail as we prepare for the forthcoming White Paper on Urban policy. But we, and others, have already acted on many of its proposals. We are keen to maintain the momentum created by the report and believe that we should all be working hard to create an urban renaissance now.
It is important to remember that the recommendations of the Task Force are not for DETR or for Government alone. Many recommendations were directed at local authorities, other public sector organisations and service providers. For its part the Government have already:
set up three pilot Urban Regeneration Companies in Liverpool, East Manchester and Sheffield. These will co-ordinate the regeneration of run-down urban neighbourhoods within a wider local strategy developed by the local authority and its partners, listening to local people's needs and ensuring local priorities are met:set up nine pilot home zones—traffic schemes in residential areas which will give residents more control over traffic movements and ensure that the needs of people, rather than traffic, come first;published revised PPG12 which advocates simpler and more effective development plans. This helps to fulfil the Urban Task Force's recommendation to streamline the planning process;piloted eight Private Finance Initiatives for Housing Revenue Account pathfinders, helping fulfil the need to attract private investment in local communities;taken steps to put Local Transport Plans on a statutory footing ensuring that local authorities take an integrated and strategic approach to planning transport provision in their area;revised planning guidance for transport to promote civilised towns and cities where the needs of people are given priority.Last week the Government also published "Revised planning policy guidance on Housing (PPG3)". This introduces a new sustainable approach to planning for housing which addresses a large number of Lord Rogers' recommendations including promoting better designed places and giving priority to recycling previously developed sites and empty properties.A great deal of work is still being carried out on the full range of Lord Rogers' proposals and the Government's approach to the many issues he raised will be set out in the White Paper. It is not, therefore, possible to say at this time how many of the recommendations will have been addressed by the end of this year.