This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Urban Regeneration Companies
13/08/2003
A
consultation paper published today asks whether Urban
Regeneration Companies (URCs) are part of the solution to
speeding up economic and community regeneration in
Scotland.
Communities Minister Margaret Curran is proposing that a
typical URC would include people from public and private
sectors working together to co-ordinate the delivery of
local regeneration projects and attract wider
investment.
URCs would be independent of central government and at a
local level they would be expected to work with local
community planning partnerships - and with social inclusion
partnerships and local economic forums.
The consultation paper also asks local partnerships to
submit expressions of interest in becoming one of the first
'Pathfinder' URCs.
Ms Curran said:
"Thousands of people across Scotland are working in the
public and voluntary sectors to improve our communities and
bridge the gap between the rich and the poor. But
sometimes, even the most committed individuals and
organisations find making progress difficult or find
problems too intractable.
"We want to use this consultation to find out why some
past initiatives have failed to make a sustained impact and
to consider how URCs might overcome some of the perceived
obstacles and speed up regeneration on the ground through a
more co-ordinated effort by private and public sector
partners."
URCs already exist in England and normally consist of a
board and a small executive team. In Scotland, a URC board
could include people representing the local authority, the
enterprise networks, and the private sector.
The URC would need to consider how it will interact with
the local Community Planning Partnership and how it will
involve local people and community groups in its decisions
and actions.
Ms Curran continued:
"The Executive supports and champions innovation in the
public sector and we are convinced that approaches to
regeneration - such as the establishment of URCs - must be
driven at grassroots level.
"We want to help nurture URCs and are committed to
offering practical help and support with set up and legal
and governance issues."
Those interested in establishing a Pathfinder URC will
be expected to present the Executive with:
- Evidence of commitment from potential partners
- A vision that will deliver social, economic and
environmental benefits as well as commercial
benefits
- A project that will make a real and lasting
difference to a region as well as to a local area
- Details of how the proposed Pathfinder URC will
ensure accountability to the community in which it
operates
The consultation closes on November 14.
The Executive indicated its support for URCs in its
review of Scotland's cities -
Building Better Cities: delivering growth and
opportunities - published on January 9.