|
The Single Regeneration Budget (SRB) has been the main
source of funding for urban regeneration projects in England since
1995/6. There are 6 rounds in total, with the first beginning in 1995
and the final round being announced in 2001.
Investment from the SRB since 1995 has encompassed 6
rounds of consortia bidding for this ‘single pot’ of public investment,
representing a public investment of £5.7 billion. Including private and
other sources of public monies, total expenditure thus far has reached
£26 billion.
London and the North West regions
account for just over half of the total expenditure and 45% of the total
spend. The lowest SRB and total expenditure levels were from the East of
England and South West at around 2-3%.
Funding is made available to local partnerships through a
competitive bidding process to provide support for regeneration
initiatives that tackle locally identified priority needs.
There are 139 ongoing schemes in the individual regions
which will continue into 2005/2006, and ongoing up to 10 years. New
projects, the majority of which are developed, appraised and approved
by partnerships, will continue to be considered within these schemes.
Two key areas of the SRB are
Partnership and Community Involvement with partnership of public,
private, voluntary and community sectors, and with financial governance,
one of the initial sources of funding. The programme is an important
tool to address the problems associated with social exclusion and to
better promote equality of opportunity with the activities it supports
intended to make a real and sustainable impact. It encourages local
people, public and voluntary organisations, businesses and others to
come together as partners in a joint approach to meet a community's
needs.
The largest SRB project in value terms will be the
regeneration of Birmingham's East-Side which is one of the largest and
most ambitious projects being currently undertaken in the UK with an
initial budget of £6 bn, with the bulk of spending estimated to take
place in 2007-09. The regeneration of Gloucester Quays will also be a
significant project estimated at £225m.
Timescale and budgets outlined in this report will
inevitably change, but there is no doubt that Urban Regeneration projects
will provide significant opportunities to the construction industry in
the future. |
