The Brown Agenda

1
The Brown Agenda

• SOLACE East Midlands
• Seminar
• Monday 29th October 2007
• De Montfort University

2
Introduction the key differences

• Focus
• Funding
• Friends

3
Focus

• Blair focus was on people joining up, ASBOs,
  womb to tomb
• Blair underlying delivery of constitutional
  reform
• Brown focus on economic performance new duty
• Brown focus on places and spatial scales
  regions, sub-regions/cities

4
1997-2007 The Blair/Brown System

• Lead on domestic policy
• Public spending reviews each three years
• Public Service Agreements between Departments and
  the Treasury
• Public Service Agreements with local authorities

5
Browns economic model

• Growth best identified at sub-regional/city scale
• Economic regeneration is dependent on housing and
  transport infrastructure in areas of success
• In slower growing areas, concentration on social
  infrastructure investment rather than physical
  infrastructure

6
The background to this?

• OECD
• EUs new policy of territorial cohesion
• Competitive regions
• Spatial implications of all public policy
• HMT Devolved Decision Making 2 and DDM3
• Sub National Review of Economic Development and
  Regeneration 2007

7
Devolved decision making 2 the regions 2004

• Proposed that the key to achieving change was a
  more localised approach
• Principle approach is a gap analysis about places
  where are they now? Where do they need to be to
  punch at their weight?
• Policy interventions to focus on local culture to
  achieve change i.e. localist not universal
  solutions

8
Browns Regional Model

• Change in regional governance model move to
  senates as part of House of Lords reform and to
  replace regional assemblies?
• Regional scrutiny joint Parliamentary Committee
• Regional Development Authority rather than Agency
• Regional Investment Programme Regional Funding
  Allocation, Infrastructure tax??

9
Devolved decision making 3 Cities 2005

• Indicated that the role of city region was the
  most crucial scale at which to develop the UK
  economy
• Level which worked sustainable make best use of
  existing infrastructure investment
• City region also unit of EU comparison
• Cultural differences work at this scale

10
Browns sub-regional/city regional model

• Set out in sub national review of economic
  development and regeneration
• Based on economic footprint
• Does not relate to administrative boundaries
• Based on transport and economic development to be
  followed by planning and housing
• Can be extended to rest of LAA agenda

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(No Transcript)
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The Brown System - Funding

• LAAs CLG
• CAAs
• MAAs - HMT
• Regional Funding Allocations
• Public Service Delivery Agreements targets for
  Departments also include actions for las

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Issues

• The relationship between LAAs and MAAs the
  Treasury and CLG
• Do Public Service Delivery Agreements include
  more targets?
• Deliver national infrastructure requirements
  through the new RDAs
• Creating sub regions based on economic
  footprints?
• Democratic arrangements for new sub-regions?

14
Some practical requirements within any local
authority

• Increasingly local authority PLUS partners
• Increased role of LSP and Sustainable Community
  Strategy
• Single evidence base across la and partners
• Single approach to consultation and participation
  across la and partners
• Single delivery programme for LSP