Communities and Local Government

• Cities and regions
• Regional
• Regional Assemblies
• Regional Development Agencies

Cities and regions

Regional Development Agencies

Overview and background

The eight Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) were established under the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998, and were formally launched in eight English regions on 1 April 1999. The ninth, in London, was established in July 2000 following the establishment of the Greater London Authority (GLA).The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) sponsor the RDAs and is responsible for the Regional Economic Performance (REP) PSA.

The primary role of RDAs is to act as strategic drivers of regional economic development in their region. The RDAs aim to co-ordinate regional economic development and economic regeneration, enable the regions to improve their relative competitiveness and reduce the imbalance that exists within and between regions.

Communities and Local Government retains policy responsibility for the regeneration initiatives delivered by the RDAs. The RDA Policy and Finance team (in the Cities and Regions Division) leads on co-ordinating Departmental responses to the Corporate Plans and reviews of Regional Economic Strategies and supporting the implementation of the Review of sub-national economic development and regeneration. The team also leads on taking forward responses to the Communities and Local Government Capability review to engage more effectively with the RDAs when developing policy. More information about the RDAs can be found at: http://www.berr.gov.uk/regional/regional-dev-agencies/index.html (external link).

Review of Sub-National Economic Development and Regeneration

The Review of sub-national economic development and regeneration, also known as the Sub-National Review (SNR), was published in July 2007 and set out a number of reforms at local, sub-regional and regional levels. The SNR announced that the the regional tier will be streamlined leading to an increased strategic role for Regional Development Agencies (RDAs). RDAs will be responsible for developing integrated Regional Strategies, promoting sustainable economic development through working with local authorities and other partners. Communities and Local Government will continue to play an important role in supporting the development of Regional Strategies and working with RDAs as key partners for delivering our priorities with local government, city and sub-regions.

The SNR sets out a more programme-based approach to delivery for RDAs in the future and presumes that they should delegate funding to local authorities or sub-regions wherever possible to support economic development. RDAs will also play a key role in establishing effective Local Area Agreements (LAAs) and Multi Area Agreements (MAAs). LAAs are outcome-focused targets agreed between central government, local government and its partners.

Partnerships and Joint Working - Communities and Local Government

MAAs are an agreement between two or more unitary local or top-tier authorities (in partnership with districts), their partners and Government to achieve collective outcome based targets, they are specifically aimed at economic development.

Multi-Area Agreements will have the benefit of being flexible and voluntary, allowing different sub-regions to enter into agreements which best suit their needs. The Government is exploring whether partnerships could expect funding certainty of longer than three years. Once established, MAAs will last for a period of three years, in line with Local Area Agreements.

This will allow the participating authorities to make plans over a longer period to improve their performance in the areas covered by the agreement. The Government will expect to give funding certainty for sub-regions over the period of MAAs, including through funding from the RDAs and from the proposed new homes agency.

The SNR announces that RDAs will be designated as the regional planning body (RPB), pending the necessary primary legislation. The earliest that this could happen is 2010. The integrated RS will be signed of jointly by the Secretaries of State for Communities and Local Government and BERR, with the spatial aspects of the regional strategy issued by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government as a statutory document - in the same way as occurs currently with the Regional Spatial Strategy. Pending the introduction of the new arrangements, the Housing Green paper has made it clear that Regional Assemblies (the current regional planning bodies) should continue with the current revisions of Regional Spatial Strategies and start further partial reviews as required.

Central government will set clear objectives for RDAs through streamlined Performance Management Arrangements for RDAs, but the underlying principles behind the role of RDAs set out in the 1998 RDA Act remain.

In future, local authorities in the regions will be responsible for agreeing the regional strategy with RDAs. RDA Boards will remain as they are now, business-led, with local authorities represented, but parliamentary scrutiny of RDAs will be strengthened. Government will oversee RDA impact and value for money.

RDA Performance Management

The capacity of the RDAs has been considered as part of the National Audit Office (NAO)'s Independent Performance Assessments which measured the performance across five broad themes (ambition, prioritisation, capacity, performance management and achievement). Independent Performance Assessments rated the 8 RDAs outside of London to be 'Performing Strongly' or 'Performing Well'. The performance of the London Development Agency was assessed as 'Good' by the Audit Commission. More information can be found at: http://www.berr.gov.uk/regional/regional-dev-agencies/rda-performance/page24206.html (external link).

Following the SNR, the Government will significantly reform and simplify the RDAs sponsorship framework in order to produce a significantly simplified outcomes framework, defined by a single overarching objective focused on regional economic performance, and supported by five outcome indicators and a limited ste of underlying principles.

RDA Corporate Plans

The RDAs priorities set out in the Regional Economic Strategies (RES) are implemented through the Corporate Plans, which is an operational document detailing the activities and initiatives to be undertaken and move forward regional and national priorities, including pan-region and growth area strategies. Corporate Plans are drawn up to cover three year periods corresponding to the Spending Reviews. Further details can be found at:
www.berr.gov.uk/regional/regional-dev-agencies/tasking-framework/page12978.html (external link).

Regional Economic Strategies (RES) statutory and non-statutory guidance

Until Government has consulted on proposals on moving to an integrated Regional Strategy, RDAs will draw up Regional Economic Strategies for their region, aligning them closely with Regional Spatial Strategies and keep them under review. They should draw on the support and resources of regional, sub-regional and local partners to address the particular needs of its region, while supporting, enhancing and delivering national policies. 

Six RESs were reviewed in 2006 with West Midlands and East of England starting their review processes in 2007 and London in 2008. Communities and Local Government has actively contributed to the recent review of the RES statutory and non-statutory guidance. These has now been published on BERR's website at: www.berr.gov.uk/regional/regional-dev-agencies/regional-economic-strategies/page19347.html (external link).

RDAs and the new Homes Agency's role in Regeneration

Place shaping requires a range of bodies to bring together different expertise and funding. RDAs and the new homes agency, will work to support the priorities of local authorities and sub-regions, within the frameworks set out in the single Regional Strategy.

The new homes agency will work to support the regeneration priorities of local authorities and sub-regions, within the frameworks set out in the single regional strategy. This regional strategy will set out the framework for economic development, housing and related regeneration priorities for each region. The Government expects the new homes agency to take over a range of housing and regeneration functions from the Housing Corporation, English Partnerships and Communities and Local Government, and will provide valuable advisory input into the development of the regional strategy.

RDAs will continue to lead on regeneration linked to economic development within each region. The new homes agency will play an important role in helping to deliver elements of the regional strategy, focusing on housing, housing-related interventions and the transformation of deprived communities. The RDAs and the new homes agency will work together to coordinate their involvement in any projects covering both economic development and measures to support deprived areas or housing delivery.