Allister Hayman,
Regeneration & Renewal,
10 October 2008
Five city-regions developing cross-boundary funding agreements may have to wait until the spring before their deals are signed off by ministers, Regeneration & Renewal has learned.
The multi-area agreement (Maa) deals are intended to enable groups of councils in a metropolitan area to pool funding to spend on city-regional priorities. In July, seven of a first wave of 13 Maas were signed off with the rest - minus Birmingham, which pulled out of the process - expected to be approved this autumn (R&R, 11 July, p1).
But it has now emerged that the five remaining agreements - covering Liverpool city-region, Hull city-region, Blackpool and Lancashire, Blackburn and Burnley, and Greater Bristol - may not be finalised until spring.
A senior Department for Communities and Local Government source told Regeneration & Renewal that the deals were at "various states of readiness" and though the plan was to have "some" signed off this autumn, it was more likely to be spring before they were finalised.
"The mantra is fewer, slower, better," the source said. "It's not about rushing them out, but about making sure the partnerships are strong."
Meanwhile, a senior source close to the Bournemouth city-region Maa, which was one of seven deals signed off in July, has told Regeneration & Renewal that little of the extra funding expected as a result of the deal has materialised.
"We're puzzling as to what the benefit is," the source said.
- See Leader, p15.
