By Lucy Phillips
17 December 2009
A £1bn government regeneration programme of former coal fields is failing to deliver many of its social and economic benefits, according to auditors.
A report by the National Audit Office into three Whitehall initiatives aimed at reviving former mining communities found many of them remain among the most deprived areas in England. Job creation and housing regeneration have been limited, while much of the work is behind schedule and many of the areas are now being particularly hard hit by the recession.
Led by the Department for Communities and Local Government, the projects have cost £630m since being launched in 1998, while total spending is set to reach £1.1bn.
The National Coalfields Programme is expected to take twice the original 10-year timescale to revive housing and employment on former sites, even though 90% of the sites will be decontaminated by 2012.
The spending watchdog criticised the delays in putting in place an enterprise fund, which has supported few local businesses. The fund has invested £6.5m in 23 companies, employing only 312 people.
Over 3,000 community projects have been funded through the Coalfield Regeneration Trust, but spending in this area has only been earmarked until 2011, putting the future of many projects at risk.
The NAO also criticised DCLG for not having an overall strategy to co-ordinate the three initiatives. Different agencies have claimed credit for meeting the same targets, resulting in ‘over reporting of the benefits attributed to the public sector’.
Edward Leigh, chair of the Public Accounts Committee, which oversees NAO reports, condemned DCLG for ‘dallying’, noting that many former miners had reached retirement age by the time support reached their communities. He added: ‘It is hardly surprising that many coalfield communities remain severely deprived when we hear the department had no strategy to co-ordinate its spending.’
Amyas Morse, head of the NAO, said: ‘The programme has taken much longer than expected to deliver results and needs to be much better planned. What we want to see is a concerted effort to deliver to the coalfields the best possible value for money from the remaining £450m of funds.’
17 December 2009
A £1bn government regeneration programme of former coal fields is failing to deliver many of its social and economic benefits, according to auditors.
A report by the National Audit Office into three Whitehall initiatives aimed at reviving former mining communities found many of them remain among the most deprived areas in England. Job creation and housing regeneration have been limited, while much of the work is behind schedule and many of the areas are now being particularly hard hit by the recession.
Led by the Department for Communities and Local Government, the projects have cost £630m since being launched in 1998, while total spending is set to reach £1.1bn.
The National Coalfields Programme is expected to take twice the original 10-year timescale to revive housing and employment on former sites, even though 90% of the sites will be decontaminated by 2012.
The spending watchdog criticised the delays in putting in place an enterprise fund, which has supported few local businesses. The fund has invested £6.5m in 23 companies, employing only 312 people.
Over 3,000 community projects have been funded through the Coalfield Regeneration Trust, but spending in this area has only been earmarked until 2011, putting the future of many projects at risk.
The NAO also criticised DCLG for not having an overall strategy to co-ordinate the three initiatives. Different agencies have claimed credit for meeting the same targets, resulting in ‘over reporting of the benefits attributed to the public sector’.
Edward Leigh, chair of the Public Accounts Committee, which oversees NAO reports, condemned DCLG for ‘dallying’, noting that many former miners had reached retirement age by the time support reached their communities. He added: ‘It is hardly surprising that many coalfield communities remain severely deprived when we hear the department had no strategy to co-ordinate its spending.’
Amyas Morse, head of the NAO, said: ‘The programme has taken much longer than expected to deliver results and needs to be much better planned. What we want to see is a concerted effort to deliver to the coalfields the best possible value for money from the remaining £450m of funds.’
