xPRESS Digest: Sheffield's innovative approach leading the way
-
Sheffield today received further recognition of its innovative approach to economic regeneration when Ruth Kelly MP, Minister for Communities and Local Government, praised the city for being the first in England to set up a city development company, Creative Sheffield. Speaking at the Lyons enquiry into local government, commenting on her work with 'great cities' such as Sheffield, the Minister highlighted city development companies (CDCs) as the way forward to attracting additional private investment to drive economic development in cities. The Minister said: 'In response to the initiative taken by Sheffield City Council, Yorkshire Forward and other partners, we have supported the establishment of Creative Sheffield as England's first City Development Company. I see CDCs as offering the potential to deliver transformational economic change in our cities.'
xPRESS Digest: New vision to boost English city renaissance: North East business leaders urged to have their say
-
New city development companies will drive forward economic growth and attract increased private investment in English cities, said Local Government Minister Phil Woolas today. The Local Government White Paper set out plans for City Development Companies (CDCs), which will bring together businesses, developers, local authorities, and investors, to develop economic masterplans to deliver more jobs and increased growth in cities. Ministers now want to hear from North East business leaders and other regional stakeholders about how the plans could be taken forward. City development companies would bring together key experience from the private and public sectors to improve economic development delivery across cities and city-regions.
The Government launched a consultation on the role of CDCs today.
City development companies would be adopted on a voluntary basis to
oversee a city-wide strategy coordinating economic development
priorities, including those of neighbouring local authorities. They
could also pool existing functions, simplify delivery and reduce
bureaucracy. However, Government would also expect city development
companies to have clear lines of accountability to local government and
to operate in line with relevant local and regional strategies.
Launching the consultation, Local Government Minister, Phil Woolas said
they could play a vital role in driving cities' economic growth.
Developing News: City Development Companies come on stream
-
They will be city-wide organisations with a focus on economic rather than physical regeneration, and are supposedly based on Creative Sheffield, the body set up when the Sheffield URC and investment agencies merged. Apparently they will be asset-owning but apart from that, work in a similar way to URCs.
The Urban Regeneration Companies - Companies
-
The companies are separate private legal entities. They seek to achieve a radical physical transformation of their areas through implementation of their shared vision in a way that could not be achieved through individual ad hoc decisions.
URCs are experts in their local areas, and the local authority, local employers, amenity groups and community representatives play an important part, with the regional context represented by the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) and the national dimension by English Partnerships. They co-ordinate investment plans from both the public and the private sectors, and attract new investment through the purposeful and imaginative promotion and regeneration of their areas.
Urban Regeneration Company
-
No, the aim of the URC is to encourage economic activity by creating more jobs and make the run down areas a more attractive place to live and work. That benefits everyone.
-
The role of the URC is to provide confidence, overcome barriers and unlock economic potential. This will be undertaken through a comprehensive regeneration plan providing clear guidance for future public and private investment.
The URC aims to generate economic growth and create jobs by coordinating public and private sector initiatives in the brownfield and waterfront areas of Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft. -
What is an Urban Regeneration Company?
An Urban Regeneration Company is a special kind of company approved by the government to organise the physical regeneration and redevelopment of particular towns or cities.
Who funds and who will run the URC?
The URC is funded by the Regional Development Agency (EEDA) and the four local authorities involved – Norfolk, Suffolk, Great Yarmouth and Waveney. It is run by a private sector led board supported by a small staff and a chief executive with a track record of delivering big regeneration projects.
The company has a board of fifteen directors including the chairman, the chief executive, four local authority representatives, an EEDA representative, two community nominees plus six further private sector members.
In addition there is one official observer from the Government.
House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 25 Oct 2006 (pt 0001)
-
City Development
Corporations<!--meta name="Colno" CONTENT="1930"-->Mrs.
Spelman:<!----> To ask the Secretary of State for
Communities and Local Government how her proposed city development
corporations will interact with (a) local authorities,
(b) regional chambers and (c) regional development
agencies.
[94562]<!--meta name="Colno" CONTENT="1930"-->Yvette
Cooper:<!----> The concept of a city development company is a
flexible one, and it is sensible for places to decide the approach that
works best for them. We will want to see efficiency, innovation and
delivery aligned with accountability to local government, Regional
Development Agency support, and strategic fit with Regional Economic
Strategies, the Regional Spatial Strategy and other relevant regional
and sub-regional strategies. We will consult on draft guidance for city
development companies following the Local Government White
Paper.<!--meta name="Colno" CONTENT="1930"-->Mrs.
Spelman:<!----> To ask the Secretary of State for
Communities and Local Government how much funding she has allocated to
promote city development corporations.
[94563]<!--meta name="Colno" CONTENT="1930"-->Yvette
Cooper:<!----> The Government will not be making decisions on
funding allocations for future years in advance of the Comprehensive
Spending Review 2007. We will consult on draft guidance for city
development companies following the Local Government White
Paper.
Thomas Walker
-
You’ll also hear people start to talk
about city development companies. Don’t know if anyone’s heard?
Tiny bit of nodding from some people. You know we have had urban
development companies, we’ve had rural development companies and now
we are going to have city development companies and that will be the
right of local authorities to set up city development companies to drive
forward the economy and to drive forward enterprise in their areas.
Of course they will have a large amount of freedom to decide what it
is they would want to focus on. So a Newcastle city development
company could focus massively on science as part of the science city
stuff or they could focus massively on enterprise and really play into
an enterprise agency agenda and that will be determined locally, not
by central government.
Gazette Live - Vision is boosted
-
Tees Valley Unlimited is part of the blueprint put to the Government to develop the Tees Valley City Region. It would have representatives from local councils and local business, to tackle economic and planning issues, including transport, skills training and tourism.
<script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript"><!--ADVERTISEMENT
<!-- OAS AD 'x60 begin -->
<script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript">
<!--
OAS_AD('x60');
//-->
</script>
<!-- OAS AD 'x60' end -->
var MPUBlockLength = 718; //--></script>John Lowther, chief executive of Tees Valley Joint Strategy Unit, said that in many respects the proposals in the Government's consultation paper on CDCs reflected the plans for Tees Valley Unlimited.
"For example, it supports the role of City Development Companies in drawing up economic strategies, co-ordinating investment from bodies such as One NorthEast, English Partnerships and Europe, and dealing with key issues such as housing and tourism - all elements envisaged with our Tees Valley Unlimited proposals.
Government Offices | Yorkshire and The Humber |
-
Local Government Minister, Phil Woolas said they could play a vital role in driving cities' economic growth. He said:
"Most people live and work in within cities and city-regions, which is why their success is crucial to improving the economic performance of our regions and our country as a whole. There is still more to do if our cities are to compete with the best in the world so we need to unlock their economic potential. City development companies can provide an entrepreneurial approach to economic development and a focal point for harnessing the private sector.
"The concept behind CDCs is simple. By creating a special purpose vehicle clearly defined for economic development, longer-term growth can be unlocked. Resources across public and private sector partners can be levered in and brought together better. This type of corporate structure is most likely to win the confidence of business through speedy decision making, leading to higher levels of investment."
City development companies could:
- Provide strategic economic direction for cities, through city or city-region wide 'economic masterplans'
- Coordinate housing, economic development, marketing and regeneration activities in one place
- Attract the specialist skills that are key to economic development
- Act as the focal point for engaging with business on economic development
- Operate across multiple local authority areas, increasing the impact of economic development delivery
Brighton & Hove Business Forum: City Development Companies - the future? Brighton & Hove Economic Partnership,Local Strategic Partnership, Local,Legislation,City Regions,Community Strategy,Regional Economic Strategy, Kelly, Ruth,
-
However, CDCs will not have any planning powers and, perhaps more significantly, they will not have any additional funding from central government, which expects them to be funded by local authorities and regional development agencies.
A basic model for CDCs already exists with Creative Sheffield which was established in 2005 (with a time limited lifespan of 15 years) and draws together destination marketing, inward investment, city centre management and economic regeneration functions into a single body.
-
City Development Companies would bring together expertise from the private and public sectors to improve economic development delivery across cities and wider “city regions”. The Government has launched a consultation on the role of CDCs.
CDCs would be established on a voluntary basis to oversee a city-wide strategy coordinating economic development priorities and could even include those of neighbouring local authorities. They could also pool existing functions, simplify delivery and reduce bureaucracy.
However, Government would also expect them to have clear lines of accountability to local government and to operate in line with the local community strategy
Economic Prosperity: The Local Contribution - Communities and Local Government
-
I see CDCs as offering the potential to deliver transformational economic change in our cities. And to help local authorities and RDAs build on success to date we will publish draft guidance on establishing city development companies following the White Paper.
-
I can tell you today that one step we will be taking is to encourage and support those cities and local authorities who wish to establish City Development Companies (or CDCs) to help attract additional private investment and drive economic development in their area.
The inspiration behind CDCs - as with all good ideas - is a simple one. By using a special purpose vehicle, responsibility for economic development in a place can be more clearly defined, longer-term objectives more easily pursued, and the energies and resources of a wide range of public and private sector partners better levered in and brought together. Together these factors tend to increase business confidence and speed up decision making, leading to better and higher levels of investment overall.
Such a company approach to economic development - taking a broader approach than solely physical regeneration - is a long established tradition in countries such as the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, and North America - and I am convinced that we need to build on their success here in the UK.
For example, a CDC is at the heart of Turin city-region's impressive drive to reposition itself as an international centre of advanced manufacturing, research and modern technology. And Toronto's Economic Development Corporation has the authority to explore, pilot, and implement incentives and redevelopment tools.
DCLG Discussion Forum - City Development Companies
-
City Development Companies are city or city-region wide economic development companies formed to drive economic growth and regeneration. The 2006 Local Government White Paper announced the intention of Communities and Local Government to promote the concept of city development companies for English cities and city-regions.
Business Two Zero » Blog Archive » BT gets in to SaaS for SMEs with two new initiatives
-
BT no longer sees (at least at the time I was there) it as a telecom operator. It sees IBM as a key competitor, i.e. technology and consulting. And it will not earn much revenue from traditional calls and wires after 2009 when the 21CN becomes fully operational. So it is trying to get a foothold in different markets. Some will work and some won’t. So the question is which side does this falls into?
-
A typical small business is going to be much more comfortable and secure trusting their private data to a company like BT over Google. The second is BT’s size and marketing muscle. If they get behind this properly with the appropriate positioning, even though the solution may have deficiencies, I think it will succeed.
-
BT Workspace was announced last week. This was very definitely not mentioned by BT at the Microsoft session, as it has significant overlap the Microsoft OfficeLive products. BT Workspace is yet another small business collaboration platform, providing a web based solution that helps groups of people share information, manage projects, and improve customer relationships. It provides Intranet capability to host bulletin boards, discussions, documents and manage sales opportunities, and Extranet capabilities for project collaboration with customers and suppliers. As with comparable solutions elsewhere there is a free option, BT Workplace Lite, and subscription upgrades for more users, additional features and extra storage.
-
. They are setting up the BT Marketplace, which aims to be an application exchange for SaaS based solutions targeted at SMEs, not unlike Salesforce.com’s AppExchange. There is a key difference to the SFdC option though, as there are no technical or platform implications. In theory, any SaaS solution could be eligible. Initially BT are interested in building up a broad portfolio of good solutions to attract a wide range of SMEs. Eventually, I’m sure they will have designs on partnering with the more successful solutions in some form of branded BT business solution.
-
With the help of IDC, Microsoft were giving strong guidance to their ISVs that they should make plans to adopt this delivery model as a matter of urgency. James Hamilton of BT was there, presenting the case for BT as a partner, as well as explaining some of their plans in the SaaS arena.
SCOOP: BT doing an AppExchange « AccMan
-
one of the companies queuing up with me to see the BT guy was Innovise, a more Enterprise oriented workforce management SaaS provider, looking to use Marketplace to help reach down to SMES more easily
-
t’s worth repeating what I said yesterday: How successful BT is matters less than their aggressive validation of the on-demand story. Unlike past attempts, they are early in the game rather than trailing on behind. They have way more marketing clout than any other potential vendor and can safely position those all important blipverts well before the 9pm watershed.
-
BT is looking to develop a marketing and distribution channel for ISVs who want to showcase SaaS offerings in the SMB space. This is a sales exercise at this time though it has been hinted that successful ISVs may find themselves acquired over time. Part of the argument they use revolves around IDCs assertion that SaaS is on the runway and in takeoff mode. Who wouldn’t be tempted given BTs reach?
Imperial College London - Leadership and e-commerce for SME business managers
-
Alan Hooper, Centre for Leadership Development, Exeter
University, speaking on Leadership in the E-world -
Alan Burton-Jones, international management and IT consultancy
expert, speaking on Leveraging your Enterprises Information Assets
to gain competitive advantage -
Jim Norton, Institute of Directors, speaking on E-commerce best
practice for SMEs -
SME organisations are increasingly aware of the possibilities
offered by e-commerce and many have devised strategies and plans
for launching themselves into the e-world. However, leadership
skills are needed to implement these strategies and these are what
the programme aims to provide -
SME business managers need to realise that it is not just a
matter of adding dot com to their company, but they need to perform
an assessment of their whole business strategy -
Few business managers are
using todays technology to anything like the degree of potential.
To do so you have to recast the business around e-commerce
Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) - Rt Hon John Hutton MP
-
We can all agree that regulation has a crucial role to play in helping to protect individual consumers and society as a whole. In health and safety for example, we must continue to look for ways that we can build on the progress we have made - for despite the fact that Britain now has the best health and safety record in Europe, last year 600,000 people were injured or became ill because of work, resulting in an average cost to the businesses of £1200 per person. So better health and safety practices can save business money.
Nevertheless, we are absolutely committed to finding the right balance – and that means cutting red tape wherever possible and pioneering risk-based legislation with a light and limited touch where there is less risk. Alongside this week’s Budget, we published a new code based on a legal requirement for inspection only where there is risk – and we are asking the European Council to adopt the same risk-based approach – allowing well-run and law abiding companies greater freedom to operate.
Independent Online Edition > UK Politics
-
She added: "At present there are as many as 1,200 national targets and
indicators for a local area.
"In future we will cut this to 200 indicators with around 35 targets, plus
statutory education and child care targets."
Ms Kelly said these aims would be "tailored to local needs", and would allow
councils and government to "focus on the things that really matter to people
everywhere".
Local government white paper
-
The publication comes after a poll last week found that only one in five people were happy with their influence over local decision making.
eGov monitor |
-
Socitm welcomes references in the White Paper to the need for councils to ‘challenge traditional methods of delivery (section 7.7) and to ‘increase the pace of change’ with local authorities and other public bodies working together ‘to overcome administrative boundaries that sometimes act as a barrier to service transformation’ (section 7.8) which will mean ‘sharing assets, systems, data, skills and knowledge more effectively……’
FT.com / World / UK - UK announces local government shake-up
-
In return central government targets would be cut to around 35 key priorities, with local agreement on priorities within that, and with the number of performance indicators cut from some 1200 to 200.
-
The aim is ”to give local authorities a stronger role in leading their communities”, with central government stepping back ”to allow more freedom and flexibility at the local level”, Mr Kelly said. ”In exchange, we expect to see more accountability to local citizens”.
-
Overview and scrutiny committees would be given new powers to demand papers and appearances within 20 days from health bodies’ officials, the police, and a wide range of other government agencies, all of whom would be obliged to to cooperate with councils in drawing up local area agreements for improvement.
-
ouncils still have to wait to see how far they will, in return, get new powers over transport and economic regeneration, for example, or any new freedoms to raise local taxation.
-
how far that will result in new powers locally will depend on the outcome of Sir Michael Lyons’s review of local government finance and the council tax, due to report in December, on decisions to be taken in next year’s comprehensive spending review, and on a paper to be published on transport.
Notation: * = Private bookmark and comment|… = Clipping [?] | … = Public highlight [?]
Recent Tags (50)
- 13d,
- 13d models,
- 2accessibility,
- 2advanced searching,
- 1alt-c,
- 1archive,
- 1assessment,
- 5blog,
- 3broadband,
- 6bt project,
- 1business ethics,
- 1buzz,
- 12cdc,
- 4citizenship,
- 1concept map,
- 4conference,
- 1cpd,
- 5csr,
- 1cv,
- 2education,
- 10elearning,
- 1eportfolio,
- 1firefox,
- 1grid,
- 1internet,
- 1isbn,
- 2lms,
- 9local government,
- 1marketing,
- 1myspace,
- 1online,
- 1panoramas,
- 5ple,
- 2presentation,
- 1references,
- 1research,
- 1research links,
- 2sme,
- 1south korea,
- 1startups,
- 2statistics,
- 1tag cloud,
- 4tag clouds,
- 1tips,
- 1tracking,
- 2vle,
- 15web 2.0,
- 3wiki,
- 1wireless,
- 1writing
Public Tags (60)
- 13d,
- 13d models,
- 2accessibility,
- 2advanced searching,
- 1alt-c,
- 1archive,
- 1assessment,
- 1bibliography,
- 5blog,
- 3broadband,
- 6bt project,
- 1business ethics,
- 1buzz,
- 12cdc,
- 4citizenship,
- 1cms,
- 1concept map,
- 4conference,
- 1cpd,
- 5csr,
- 1cv,
- 1democracy,
- 2education,
- 10elearning,
- 1eportfolio,
- 1government,
- 1grid,
- 1how to,
- 1internet,
- 1isbn,
- 2lms,
- 9local government,
- 1marketing,
- 1media,
- 1model,
- 1online,
- 1panoramas,
- 5ple,
- 1podcast,
- 1powerpoint,
- 2presentation,
- 1references,
- 1research links,
- 2sme,
- 1south korea,
- 1startups,
- 2statistics,
- 1tag cloud,
- 4tag clouds,
- 1technorati,
- 1tips,
- 1tracking,
- 1typography,
- 1visualisation,
- 2vle,
- 14web 2.0,
- 3wiki,
- 1wireless,
- 1writing,
- 1youth