CLES News

DCLG admits it is unlikely to hit renewal targets

21st December 2009

The Department for Communities and Local Government has admitted it is unlikely to meet two key regeneration related performance targets.

A report published last week by the DCLG, says that the department is “not on track” to meet a departmental strategic objective to narrow the employment rate gap between councils eligible for the Working Neighbourhoods Fund and the rest of England.

The gap in employment rates between WNF areas- which receive funds to boost employment in deprived neighbourhoods- and the rest o England rose from 19.7 percentage points in 2007/08 to 20.4 points in 2008/09, the report says.

It adds that the DCLG is also “not on track” to meet its strategic objective to maintain or increase the number of large urban areas showing an above average increase in employment rates.

But the DCLG is on course to meet a target to narrow the gap between house prices in housing market renewal areas and the average of comparable homes in the same regions, says the report.

Neil McInroy, chief executive of think-tank the Centre for Local Economic Strategies, said: “Clearly, the loss of economic effervescence will make it difficult to achieve these targets now. ”

Autumn Performance Report 2009 is available via www.regen.net/doc