English Partnerships Annual Report and Financial Statements Year ended 31 March 2008 Front cover: First London-Wide Initiative homes, Adelaide Wharf, Hackney, East London. Left: Design for Manufacture homes, Oxley Woods, Milton Keynes. 2 English Partnerships Annual Report 2007/08 English Partnerships Annual Report and Financial Statements 2007/2008 Commission for the New Towns Annual Report and Financial Statements presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for the Department for Communities and Local Government on behalf of the Comptroller and Auditor General in pursuance of Section 9(a) of the New Towns and Urban Development Corporations Act 1985. Urban Regeneration Agency Annual Report and Financial Statements presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for the Department for Communities and Local Government on behalf of the Comptroller and Auditor General in pursuance of paragraph 9 of Schedule 18 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993. 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For any other use of this material please write to: Office of Public Sector Information, Information Policy Team, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 4DU or e-mail: [email protected] Contents 4 Who we are and what we do 50 Financial Statements 6 Highlights of the year 74 Commission for the New Towns 10 English Partnerships’ areas 102 Urban Regeneration Agency of operation 130 Getting in touch 12 English Partnerships’ Board 14 Chairman’s Report 16 Chief Executive’s Report 18 Land supply 26 Communities 34 Quality and innovation 42 Building capacity 46 Business performance and monitoring English Partnerships Annual Report 2007/08 3 Who we are and what we do Above: Community Gala, Allerton Bywater Millennium Community, near Leeds. Left: Children in the Ecology Park, Greenwich Peninsula, London. 4 English Partnerships Annual Report 2007/08 English Partnerships is the national regeneration agency helping the Government to support high-quality, sustainable growth in England. We do this by: • Unlocking and increasing the supply In collaboration with the Housing of land – particularly surplus public Corporation, the Academy for sector sites – to meet housing and Sustainable Communities and other growth needs; minimising Communities and Local Government greenfield development and tackling we are jointly establishing the new visual and economic blight; Homes and Communities Agency that will begin operating in 2009. • Creating and sustaining well-served mixed communities where people enjoy living and working, using our skills and expertise to help local authorities and other partners deliver their vision; and • Improving quality of life and enhancing the environment through innovation and raising standards; and promoting the importance of good design, planning and build, to underpin the well-being of communities. English Partnerships Annual Report 2007/08 5 Highlights of the year: facts and figures Recently completed Arena and Convention Centre, Kings Waterfront, Liverpool. 6 English Partnerships Annual Report 2007/08 Across our whole programme our Targets 2007/08 work has been characterised by a clear focus on ‘business as usual’ Upper Target Outturn and maintaining delivery, as well as improving quality while striving Brownfield land reclaimed (ha) 220 289 to provide greater value for money. Housing units facilitated (starts on site commissioned) 10,300 11,045 Housing units facilitated (completions) 5,740 6,632 English Partnerships has again delivered Employment floorspace created (‘000 sq m) 430 492 another excellent set of results for Private sector investment attracted (£m) 1,000 1,266 2007/08, demonstrating our ability to deliver Government policies in practice. • The acquisition of more surplus public • The opening of the Liverpool Arena These are some of our achievements sector land, including Connaught in time for the launch of the city’s during 2007/08: Barracks in Dover, Roussillon Barracks year as Capital of Culture 2008. in Chichester, Guest Hospital in • The completion of the first 147 Dudley and the Bruche Police Training • Work began at seven of the 10 Design homes at Adelaide Wharf as part Centre in Warrington. for Manufacture Competition sites. of the London-Wide Initiative. The first completions and new • The scope and scale of the pilot home occupations were achieved. • The Carbon Challenge was phase of the Local Housing successfully launched. Several Companies programme was • The completion of the Northwich major companies were attracted established through close Town Centre Salt Mine project to the first site at Hanham Hall, co-operation with 14 local authorities. (part of our Land Stabilisation South Gloucestershire and Programme) that will facilitate the Barratt Developments Plc was • The submission of a planning regeneration of the town centre. selected as the preferred application for approximately developer. Three more sites 9,500 new homes at Northstowe • An Urban Finance Team was have been identified. in Cambridgeshire. established with the aim of working with existing English Partnerships • The completion and opening of • New Quality Standards were delivery teams and other public The O2 Arena and Entertainment introduced, including minimum sector partners to examine new District on Greenwich Peninsula. space standards. All sites going to and innovative ways of using the market in the year were required private sector funding to accelerate • As part of the initial work on to meet, as a minimum, Level 3 of delivery of public sector outputs. assessing the suitability of surplus the Code for Sustainable Homes. public sector sites for delivering Our standards are now harmonised • The start of construction on the the Housing Green Paper’s housing with those of the Housing Corporation. Bedford Western Bypass that will targets, English Partnerships assessed open up land for development, over 900 different sites and identified thereby enabling the construction 178 as being potentially suitable. of more than 2,750 new homes. English Partnerships Annual Report 2007/08 7 Key drivers of success • Strong collaborative working from Demand for homes an early stage with key stakeholders, We believe that there are two key drivers including Government departments, The Housing Green Paper, published in underpinning the Agency’s track record the Housing Corporation, Regional July 2007 identified the following targets: of continuing success. Development Agencies, local authorities, local delivery agencies • 3 million new homes by 2020; Firstly, our reputation for delivery is down and partners to deliver co-ordinated, to the calibre of our people. Our staff integrated and sustainable • 240,000 net new homes per annum possess the essential qualities, skills regeneration and housing solutions; by 2016; and expertise to work on large and often complex programmes; they are able • Acting as a catalyst for development • 70,000 more affordable homes per to share their knowledge, experience, by securing the provision of essential year by 2010/11 of which 45,000 expertise and skills with our partners, infrastructure and priming sites for will be for social rent; adding substantial value to the projects development by our partners; in which we become involved. • 25,000 shared ownership and shared • Securing early involvement from our equity homes provided each year; Secondly, our business model private sector partners to share the exemplifies the strategic approach main risks and expenditure burden; • 200,000 new homes to be delivered to regeneration and growth that on surplus public sector land by 2016; distinguishes the Agency. This has • Influencing the industry through proved to be crucial in sustaining innovative and exemplar projects • 60 per cent of new homes to be built our track record and reputation by: and setting benchmark standards on brownfield sites; for high-quality urban design, • Focusing on major interventions construction and environmental • All new homes to emit 25 per cent that address market failure and sustainability; and less carbon from 2010; achieve maximum impact and value for money with minimum • Utilising our portfolio of sites to deliver • All new homes to emit 44 per cent public subsidy; the Government’s policy objectives. less carbon from 2013; and • Targeting those local areas with the We believe that these drivers of success • All new homes to be zero carbon greatest need and actively engaging will continue to serve the Agency well from 2016. with people to deliver solutions that in the coming year and help to create meet the requirements of all sections a firm business platform for the Homes of the local community; and Communities Agency. 8 English Partnerships Annual Report 2007/08 ‘Key drivers of success will continue to serve the Agency well in the coming year and help to create a firm business platform for the Homes