23 April 2004
Planners, police officers and local politicians alike need to have their skills honed at a new centre of excellence if the government's sustainable development targets are to be met.
That was the conclusion of Sir John Egan, the CBI president who was commissioned by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to identify the skills needed to promote prosperous communities.
His central recommendation was the establishment of a National Centre for Sustainable Communities Skills, which would develop generic skills such as leadership, teamwork and project management.
'Sustainable communities do not happen by chance, they are something we must work to create,' Egan said. 'Unless we put in place effective delivery processes and set out clear responsibilities, and we ensure everyone involved has the right generic skills, then we are never going to have the sustainable communities we deserve.'
He said a cultural shift was needed to deliver communities that were clean, friendly and well served by public services and open spaces.
The report, published on April 19, recommended that local authorities take the lead on the sustainable communities agenda and urged greater devolution of power away from central government, prompting an enthusiastic welcome from the Local Government Association.
LGA chair Sir Jeremy Beecham said: 'The LGA has long argued that councils are uniquely placed to bring together private, public and voluntary groups in their community to drive forward a development vision to deliver better places for people to live and work.
'We are delighted that the Egan review has so strongly endorsed the local route, and we are committed to helping councils to deliver their civic leadership skills further.'
Launching the report, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott said planners and councillors needed to be re-educated so that they no longer allowed housing estates or shopping centres to be dumped on the edges of towns or in the middle of the countryside.
He produced a report on eight regional cities, including Birmingham and Nottingham, which had begun to redevelop on sustainable lines. 'Places that were once the engine room of the industrial revolution are learning new ways to create wealth in the global economy where brain has replaced brawn,' he said.
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