News

The London Development Agency should have full responsibility for the co-ordination and funding of economic and social regeneration, according to a report published this week by the London assembly.

The report by the assembly's economic development committee was the result of a year-long review of the progress of publicly funded regeneration schemes across the capital.

While the committee reported "a lot of very good work" and "big improvements", it described the overall picture as "confusing, often with no clear links between different agencies working in the same area".

The report concludes: "We are particularly concerned at the separation of the London Development Agency's responsibility for economic regeneration from the Department for Local Government, Transport and the Regions and Government Office for London's responsibility for social regeneration. We recommend that the London Development Agency be given full responsibility for the co-ordination and funding of both."

In practice, this would mean moving money connected to the neighbourhood renewal strategy and the new deal for communities initiative into the London Development Agency's new "single pot" for physical, social and economic regeneration, which comes into force from April.

Under the "single pot" arrangement, regional development agencies will take over the community regeneration commitments from the single regeneration budget (SRB) programme and the physical and economic regeneration commitments of English Partnerships.

But voluntary sector and community representatives have expressed concern that RDAs will focus too much on economic regeneration and that social projects will miss out (News, page 12, 13 December).

- Rebuilding London's Future from www.london.gov.uk/assembly/reports