Partnership agencies in British urban policy Partnership agencies in British urban policy Nick Bailey University of Westminster with Alison Barker and Kelvin MacDonald © Nick Bailey, Alison Barker, Kelvin MacDonald 1995. This book is copyright under the Berne Convention. No reproduction without permission. All rights reserved. First published in 1995 by UCL Press. UCL Press Limited University College London Gower Street London WC1E 6BT This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2004. The name of University College London (UCL) is a registered trade mark used by UCL Press with the consent of the owner. ISBN 0-203-21439-0 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-27099-1 (Adobe eReader Format) ISBNs: 1-85728-069-5 HB 1-85728-070-9 PB British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Contents Acknowledgements ix List of abbreviations x 1 Introduction 1 2 The concept of partnership in urban regeneration 5 The rise of the partnership approach 6 The restructuring of the local State 12 Local responses to the restructuring of the State and market 18 Theories of partnership 22 Establishing a model of partnership 26 A typology of partnership 28 The rationale of partnership 32 Conclusions 37 3 The evolution of government policy towards partnership 38 The role of the State in urban regeneration 39 The origins of British urban policy 41 The origins of partnership 1977–9 43 Privatism and the enterprise culture 46 Redirecting the Urban Programme 48 Single-minded regeneration agencies 51 The Scottish approach to urban regeneration 53 Engaging the private sector 56 Consolidation and review of urban policy: 1987–91 60 Post-Thatcherism: a return to local corporatism? 64 The evolution of the partnership approach in Scotland 70 The 1994 review of urban policy 73 Conclusions 74 v PARTNERSHIP AGENCIES IN BRITISH URBAN POLICY 4 Birmingham Heartlands 80 Origins of the Heartlands urban development area 80 The origins of Birmingham Heartlands 81 The Tym Development Strategy for East Birmingham 83 Implementation 85 Projects 87 The transition to an urban development corporation 92 Progress in the first two years 94 The bhdc Corporate Plan for 1993–4 95 Conclusions 97 5 Brownlow Community Trust 100 The history of Brownlow 100 A social and economic profile of Brownlow 102 Community activity in Brownlow 103 The third European Poverty Programme 106 Brownlow Community Trust 107 Health 117 Conclusions 118 6 Greenwich Waterfront Development Partnership (GWDP) 121 The Greenwich Waterfront 121 Origins of the partnership 121 The organization of the partnership 122 Phase one: the Waterfront strategy 122 Phase two: setting up the Development Partnership 124 The Greenwich Waterfront Development Partnership 125 Staffing the Waterfront team 126 The business forum 128 The community forum 129 Local agencies 129 The Partnership: implementation programme for 1993–4 133 Thamesmead Town Ltd 137 Conclusions 138 7 The Newcastle Initiative 141 Introduction 141 The formation of TNI 142 Organization 144 vi CONTENTS Funding 145 Projects 146 Conclusions 154 8 The Wester Hailes Partnership 157 Partnership in Scotland 157 The Partnership area 157 The choice of Wester Hailes 159 Previous initiatives in Wester Hailes 160 Composition of the board 161 Funding and budget 161 The resource team 163 The Wester Hailes Representative Council 163 The approach and goals of the Wester Hailes Partnership 164 Conclusions 171 9 The Woodlands Community Development Trust 176 The Woodlands area 176 Formation 177 Organization 178 Funding 179 Projects 180 Progressing the development plan 183 Conclusions 185 10 An evaluation of alternative approaches to partnership 190 Internal evaluation 191 External evaluation 215 11 Conclusions 225 The political dimension of urban regeneration 226 The impact of urban policy 227 Towards an urban politics of collaboration and influence 229 References and bibliography 233 Index 243 vii Acknowledgements We would like to record our thanks to the many people who contributed so willingly to enabling us to complete this study. Naturally, any errors or oversights remain entirely the authors’ responsibility. We are particularly grateful to the many officers and members of the partnerships who agreed to be interviewed and the many others who met our requests for detailed information. For once it is possible to say genuinely that, without their openness and willingness to devote large amounts of time to us, this study would not have been possible. We were deeply impressed by their dedication and commitment, as well as the contribution of the many others to whom we spoke. We are especially indebted to Alan Bishop (Director of Planning and Development at Birmingham Heartlands Development Corporation), Roisin McDonough (Director of the Brownlow Community Trust), Antony Rifkin (formerly Co- ordinator of the Greenwich Waterfront Development Partnership), John Collier (Chief Executive of the Newcastle Initiative), Sorrel Brookes (formerly Director of the Wester Hailes Partnership), and Douglas Harrison (formerly Director of the Woodlands Community Development Trust). Andy Thornley of Reading University and Mike Edwards of University College London generously agreed not only to assess the original proposal but also to read and comment on a final draft. Their support for the initial concept, and their valuable suggestions, were most gratefully received. We would also like to pay a special tribute to Roger Jones’ sound editorial advice and continuing equanimity as several deadlines passed. Financial assistance was gratefully received from the University of Westminster, which provided the salary of our researcher, Alison Barker. We would also like to pay tribute to our colleagues in the School of Urban Development and Planning for their direct and indirect assistance and intellectual stimulation. Bill Erickson kindly assisted with the preparation of the organizational diagrams. The university library responded cheerfully and promptly to our many requests for publications, and the planning subject librarian, Fiona Middleton, deserves special thanks. Nick Bailey University of Westminster, October 1994 ix Abbreviations BCT Brownlow Community Trust BHDC Birmingham Heartlands Development Corporation BItC Business in the Community CAT City Action Team CBI Confederation of British Industry CCP Comprehensive Community Project CDP Community Development Project DLG Derelict land grant DoE Department of the Environment ERDF European Regional Development Fund EP English Partnerships ESF European Social Fund EU European Union FIG Financial Institutions Group GEAR Glasgow Eastern Area Renewal project GWDP Greenwich Waterfront Development Partnership GRO Grants for rent and ownership (Scotland) HAT Housing Action Trust LEC Local Enterprise Company MSC Manpower Services Commission PPA Priority Partnership Areas (Scotland) SDA Scottish Development Agency SE Scottish Enterprise RB Single regeneration budget TEC Training and Enterprise Council TNI The Newcastle Initiative UDC Urban Development Corporation UDW Urban Development Wales UP Urban Programme UPA Urban priority area WCDT Woodlands Community Development Trust WDA Welsh Development Agency WHP Wester Hailes Partnership x CHAPTER 1 Introduction Partnership has always been a concept associated with the inner cities and urban regeneration. It has been dismissed as “containing a high level of ambiguity” (Mackintosh 1992:210) and “a meaningless concept” (Lawless 1991:10) because of its application to a wide variety of policy initiatives by both advocates and critics. As Lawless rightly notes, “There is no legal definition of partnership, nor is there anything we can call the “typical” partnership (ibid.). Yet increasingly, the term is seen not only as an essential adjunct of policy but as the most important foundation of the government’s strategy towards urban areas. It may not be overstating the case to say that there is now a broad consensus among the main political parties and practitioners that claims that partnership is now the only basis on which successful urban regeneration can be achieved. The extent of this transformation is indicated in the recent review of urban policy sponsored by the Department of the Environment (DoE), which puts the need to encourage long- term collaborative partnerships at the head of five policy conclusions (Robson et al. 1994:xiv). As we argue in the text, the reasons for the promotion of partnership to the top of the political agenda have much to do with the economic restructuring of local economies and deep-seated changes in the machinery of government at both local and national levels. This book sets out to chart the origins and evolution of the concept throughout the past two and half decades of urban policy. Despite a long history of relatively close working relationships between public and private sectors (for example in the planning and construction of the new towns), the idea of partnership emerged in the late 1970s as part of an attempt to improve the co-ordination and delivery of central and local government services. From the 1980s onwards the incoming Conservative Government saw it as a means of transferring responsibility for urban regeneration to the private sector. More recently, policy has favoured closer collaboration between all local interests through initiatives such as City Challenge and the Single Regeneration Budget, in conjunction with a growing political accommodation between central and local government. For the purposes