HC Deb 10 April 2001 vol 366 cc494-6W
Mr. Hilary Benn

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to(a) Leeds, Central parliamentary constituency and (b) the City of Leeds, the effects of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [157442]

Ms Beverley Hughes

The principal funding that this Department has provided to City of Leeds local authority in 1997 to present is shown in the table. This includes grants and borrowing approvals for revenue and capital expenditure.

It is not possible to determine how much of this money has been spent on Leeds, Central constituency. It is for the local authority to decide where within its boundary these resources are applied.

Lifetime total SRB funding is £16.48 million which is expected to lever in an additional investment of £26.5 million from other public and private sector sources over a seven year period commencing 1995–96.

The Leeds Initiative SRB Round 2 scheme: Rebuilding our communities

The programme aims to build on Round 1 activities by investing in physical regeneration in the East Bank area of Richmond Hill and by capitalising on training, employment and business growth opportunities in the East Bank and Chapeltown/Harehills, Hyde Park/Burley and Beeston Urban Renewal Areas. The scheme is primarily housing led and aims to stimulate local business and employment growth through major housing investment programmes.

The scheme has attracted a lifetime total SRB funding of £12.5 million which is expected to lever in an additional investment of £55.7 million from other public and private sector sources over a seven year period commencing 1996–97.

Community action and support against crime—SRB Round 2 scheme

A three year scheme commenced 1996–97 and targeted on the Chapeltown and Harehills area of Leeds. The scheme provided a local focus for tackling high crime rates by strengthening community resolve to fight crime and overcome the fear of crime. It mixed target hardening and property marking with increased community participation in Neighbourhood Watch, enhanced victim support services, diversionary activities for youth and drugs counselling. The SRB contribution totalled £200,000.

The Leeds Initiative SRB Round 3 scheme: Leeds partnership with young people

The scheme proposes to tackle deprivation by providing assistance to young people aged nine to 25 living in the four most deprived electoral wards in the city: Burmantofts, Chapel Allerton, Harehills and the University.

The lifetime total SRB funding is £23.9 million which is expected to lever in an additional investment of £49.1 million from other public and private sector sources over a seven year period commencing 1997–98.

The Leeds Initiative SRB Round 4 scheme: Investing in the community

This scheme is targeted at the communities of Beeston Hill and Holbeck. The overall objective is to develop a sustainable regeneration strategy for the target area that will provide the local communities with an improvement to the quality of their lives.

The scheme has attracted a lifetime total SRB funding of £7.4 million which is expected to lever in an additional investment of £16 million from other public and private sector sources over a seven year period commencing 1998–99.

The Leeds Initiative SRB Round 5 scheme: Better neighbourhoods and confident communities

A seven year scheme, commencing 1999–2000, targeted at the most socially excluded neighbourhoods in Leeds. Its focus cuts across the range of SRB Objectives and seeks to address issues of neighbourhood decline in the following four main areas of concern:

  • Community Involvement
  • Neighbourhood Management
  • Community Safety
  • Improving Opportunities.

The overall lifetime funding package totals £61.164 million, of which the SRB contribution is £24.864 million.

The Leeds Initiative SRB Round 6 scheme: Aire Valley employment area

The overall objective of this seven year scheme, commencing 2000–01, is to transform the area, which forms the region's largest industrial site, into a high quality, sustainable employment base for the people of Leeds (particularly deprived communities in the east and south of the city) and the Yorkshire and Humberside region as a whole.

The overall lifetime funding package totals £46.4 million, of which the SRB contribution is £11.6 million.

European Funding

Leeds was not eligible for Objective 2 funding under the 1997–99 programme. However, it was eligible for support under the KONVER Community Initiative (to support diversification of economic activities in areas dependent on the defence sector). Projects in the area received offers of support totalling nearly £860,000 via ERDF measures and £234,000 via ESF.

The Chapeltown/Harehills area was also eligible for support under the URBAN Community Initiative (to support the development of urban areas in crisis). Projects in the area received offers totalling some £2.2 million via ERDF measures and £300,000 via ESF. The initiative was actually managed by a Board/Committee made up of local authority and local community representatives.

For Objective 3 (ESF), Leeds had £2.86 million in 1997, £4.1 million in 1998 and £8 million in 1999–2000.

For Objective 4 (ESF), it had £105,000 in 1998 and £1.5 million in 1999.