The Statutory Agencies

Nationally – ODPM: Office of the Deputy Prime Minister have overall responsibility for regeneration. However they have to work with a number of other government departments including – DTI: Department of Trade & Industry, DfES: Department of Education & Skills, DEFRA: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, DH: Department of Health, HO: Home Office

Regionally – Our Essex Deaneries come under the East of England. EERA: East of England Regional Assembly. This is not elected and is made up of nominated local politicians and other representatives including ones from the voluntary sector and a faith communities member.

ECC: Essex County Council and below this 12 District Councils. Within the area there are 2 Unitary Authorities (Thurrock & Southend) who report direct to the region.

Our London Deaneries come under the Mayor of London. The mayor is elected as is the London Assembly which has 25 members. Below this there are the London Boroughs with their own mayors and elected councils.

The Planning Process

Each region (in our case London and East of England) has to produce a Regional Spacial Strategy (RSS) setting out the overall development strategy for the region for at least the next 20 years. This covers all areas of life – infrastructure, housing, business, environment, transport, etc.

And within this Strategy each District and Unitary Authority has to produce there own plans called Local Development Frameworks (LDFs)

At all stages of planning the Government insists that there is Community involvement and so Authorities have to produce a SCI (Statement of Community Involvement). This will show how the community has been consulted, maybe through questionnaires, exhibitions, interviews, etc.

LOOK OUT FOR THESE EVENTS AND HAVE YOUR SAY! It is often possible to get on mailing/emailing lists so that you will be automatically informed of what is going on.

After and LDF is agreed there may be Master Plans prepared for particular areas which are to be redeveloped. These are another opportunity for communities to have their say on what is proposed.

Delivering Regeneration

But how is it all to be delivered? This is where Delivery Vehicles (DVs) come in. Some have been set up by the Government. In our diocese this includes the Thames Gateway, the Stansted/M11 corridor and the Haven Gateway (which includes Harwich) The Thames Gateway has 3 Partnerships – London (TGLP) looking after the London Boroughs, South Essex (TGSEP) and Kent. These have Chief Executives with staffs responsible for ensuring that Government policy is implemented. However they are not responsible for the money! This will go through the various Local Delivery Vehicles (LDVs) including 2 Development Corporations – East London and Thurrock. (These were set up by Act of Parliament and have Planning Authority powers as well as being able to buy land to facilitate development) Other areas have Urban Renaissance Companies (URCs), such as The Basildon Renaissance Partnership and Renaissance Southend. These are tasked with facilitating regeneration but without the legal powers of the Development Corporations. Many other areas in our Diocese will have some form of URC but the names they give themselves will vary.

Government is very keen that all sectors of society are involved in the development of our communities. To assist in this Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) have been set up in all areas – County, Unitary Authority and Borough. These include politicians, public services, voluntary services and a faith representative. This is another area where we can be involved as Christians. Again LSPs will come under many names – Essex Partnership is the ECC LSP, Colchester 2020 is the Colchester LSP, and there is the Barking and Dagenham Partnership, etc.

Summary

Unfortunately, the details above are only the tip of the iceberg as far as the agencies involved are concerned. However there are opportunities for us, as individuals and as churches, to be involved – if we don’t take up the openings, can we really complain if what gets developed does not take account of our views and we miss opportunities to be involved in developing communities based on our Christian principles?