MPs slam DCLG role in Thames region revival

15 Nov 07
MPs have condemned the Department for Communities and Local Government as 'not up to the job' of managing the Thames Gateway regeneration project amid fears of another public spending disaster.

16 November 2007

MPs have condemned the Department for Communities and Local Government as 'not up to the job' of managing the Thames Gateway regeneration project amid fears of another public spending disaster.

In a stinging attack on November 15, Public Accounts Committee chair Edward Leigh said the scheme 'still amounts to little more than a group of disjointed projects, which do not add up to a programme that is purposeful and moving forward'. He also blasted the DCLG for failing to establish a budget.

The department was 'manifestly not up to the job of managing the enormously ambitious enterprise of regenerating the Thames Gateway region', he said.

The DCLG and its predecessors have spent £673m on the scheme since 2003 and sponsored projects designed to help local partners to accelerate the area's regeneration.

Most of the finance is to be provided by the private sector. But the public sector will play a major role through the provision of infrastructure, planning and land remediation, and ensuring that developers meet the requirements of sustainable communities.

PFnov2007

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