Enterprise and
Business Committee
Date:
12th October 2011
Time:
10.00 to 11.00 am
Title:
Evidence paper on the Draft Budget:
Regeneration
aspects of the Minister for Housing, Regeneration and
Heritage’s portfolio
Introduction
- This paper provides
background financial information to the Committee regarding the
future spending plans for the Regeneration part of the
Minister’s portfolio, as outlined within the Draft Budget.
Strategic, physical and legacy regeneration comes within
the remit of this
Committee. The other aspects of the
Minister’s portfolio, namely Housing and Heritage, come
within the remit of the Communities, Equality and Local
Government Committee.
- Annex A gives a breakdown of the
Draft Budget for the Regeneration lines by Action, and by BEL
within each Action.
Budget
Overview
- The draft budget figures for
Regeneration may be summarised as follows:
Spending Programme
Area
|
Baseline
2011-12
£’000
|
Draft
Budget
2012-13
£’000
|
Indicative
Plans
2013-14
£’000
|
Indicative
Plans
2014-15
£’000
|
Revenue
|
14,489
|
14,336
|
14,397
|
14,397
|
Capital
|
55,343
|
51,477
|
45,888
|
45,888
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
|
69,832
|
65,813
|
60,285
|
60,285
|
- The budget process for this year
has been ‘light touch’. A comprehensive budget planning
round was undertaken last year, when it was necessary to make
reductions to planned budgets. The reductions in the capital
budgets in particular were significant.
- There has been only one change
from the 3 year plan set out in last year’s budget planning
round. In order to support
existing commitments in respect of Cardiff Bay Harbour Authority,
funding of £0.3m in 2012-13 and £0.1 in 2013-14 has
been transferred from the Implementation of Strategic
Regeneration Areas Action to Manage Delivery of Legacy
Regeneration Action. This budget has then been rolled forward
flat into 2014-15.
Programme of
Government
- The Welsh Government’s
regeneration programme comprises an integrated series of actions
and targeted investment which aims to reverse the decline of and
deliver sustainable renewal in disadvantaged areas in
Wales.
- Our budget is broken down into
the following lines:
Implementation of Strategic
Areas
- Our Regeneration Areas budgets
support a series of focused, area-based interventions in parts of
Wales where we believe we can work with local agencies to tackle
acute needs, in particular multiple forms of deprivation. We work
with partners across the public, private and voluntary sectors to
develop and deliver co-ordinated and holistic action plans to
address local needs and opportunities, using our funding to lever
in additional investment. We currently have seven Regeneration
Areas (Heads of the Valleys, Western Valleys, Mon a Menai, North
Wales Coast, Aberystwyth, Swansea and Barry). Investment from our
Regeneration Areas is used as match funding for European-funded
projects; the largest of these projects is part of the Valleys
Regional Park, a partnership which we host on behalf of over 40
organisations.
Manage Delivery of Legacy
Regeneration Areas
- We also provide funding in two
other priority areas, namely:
·
Newport Unlimited -
funding for the only Urban Regeneration Company (URC) in Wales,
jointly owned by the Welsh Government and Newport City Council. The
URC was created in 2003 to work with public and private sectors to
deliver major physical change and strengthen the economy of Newport
through regeneration projects to improve the landscape, create new
jobs, attract investment and ensure a vibrant city for the future;
and
·
Cardiff Harbour
Authority - funding to Cardiff Council for the safe maintenance and
operation of the area in Cardiff Bay controlled by the Harbour
Authority, in accordance with its statutory obligations under the
Cardiff Bay Barrage Act 1993.
- The budget line for the Legacy
Regeneration Areas reduces over the 3 year Plan period, from
£8.2m to £8m (revenue), and from £3.4m in 2011/12
to £2m in 2014/15 (capital) as part of planned reductions in
the funding for Cardiff Harbour Authority (revenue) and Newport
Unlimited (capital). The programme for Newport Unlimited
comes to an end in 2013/14 so the allocation in 2014/15 is a
contingency figure at this stage.
Groundwork Wales and Coalfields
Regeneration Trusts
- We provide core funding to
Groundwork Wales and Coalfields Regeneration Trusts. The
functions of each are best explained by the organisations web pages
- http://www.wales.groundwork.org.uk/ &
http://www.coalfields-regen.org.uk/contactingus/wales/. This
amounts to £1.1m revenue, and £0.250m capital in
2011/12. The position for the Plan period is currently under
review.
Local Authority General Capital
Funding
- Within the Regeneration budgets,
there is a budget line for local authority general capital funding,
amounting to £11.577m in 2012-13. This funding is
unhypothecated, and as such, once it is distributed to the local
authorities as part of the local government settlement, we are not
able to direct its spend.
Looking forward
- As our capital budget reduces,
we are working closely with partners to ensure that we identify the
strategic investments which will make a real difference, and that
maximise other funding opportunities, in order to maintain the
momentum of change in our Regeneration Areas.