COMMENT The debate rumbles on as to whether the comprehensive spending review announced last Wednesday went far enough in supporting the government’s long-stated priority to rebalance the national economy. What is clear, however, is that the funding commitments at least provide an opportunity for the regions to show their mettle.
To give chancellor Rishi Sunak and the civil service credit, they have heeded calls from businesses, Harworth included, to create a fund for regional infrastructure investment that historically has been too expensive for local authorities or local enterprise partnerships, but not of sufficient size to attract government support.
Initial details for the £4bn “levelling-up fund” look promising: a £20m limit per scheme appears sensible; a range of uses suggested would provide flexibility; and the suggestion that the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, the Treasury and the Department for Transport would work together on the programme is a welcome move away from a silo mentality on funding.
I think the finer details need to emphasise two things: that the government is not overly prescriptive on what it expects to see; and that its much-vaunted work on amending Green Book rules are thoughtfully applied. Harworth has a number of potential rail schemes on its major developments that we want to bring forward to support decarbonisation and enhanced productivity which should benefit from this support.
The Waverley blueprint
Further funding for housebuilding is also hugely welcome, given how vast the gap between completed units and the nationally recognised 300,000 homes-a-year target is likely to be for 2020.
The split of the £7.1bn National Home Building Fund covers what we see as the two principal hurdles to accelerating build-out rates. Firstly, £4.8bn for capital grant funding, including for land remediation, infrastructure investment and land assembly. Secondly, £2.2bn of new loan finance to support housebuilders across the country to deliver Help to Build for custom and self-builders, and funding for SMEs and modern methods of construction.
I am particularly keen for the money to be used for two purposes. Huge sites that have either been vacant for decades or are the subject of structural changes in the economy, such as power stations and steelworks, should be prioritised for intervention.
At Waverley, the 740-acre redevelopment of the former Orgreave Colliery and Coking Works in Rotherham, we have proved that with early government-backed investment and strong public-private partnerships even the most difficult sites can have bright futures.
Three decades after 500 jobs were lost when the coking works closed, 1,100 homes out of a total of 4,000 have been built, while 2,000 people already work at a world-class advanced manufacturing park for employers including Rolls-Royce, Boeing, McLaren Automotive and the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre. I want to see more Waverleys across the UK, and Harworth has the track record, the capabilities and the strategic sites to support this ambition.
Financial devolution
In addition, Homes England is a major positive influence on the wider sector, and I strongly endorse the use of this fund for it to extend its partnerships across the UK to support tenure diversification and affordability. Achieving scale when it comes to modern construction methods for housebuilding is a crucial aspect of accelerating delivery. I am strongly committed to Harworth being one of its partners through ratcheting up the delivery of pre-manufactured homes as part of the core offer of our major developments.
This year’s spending review is a good start, but the chancellor still has more to do to support greater output and productivity from the regions. Greater financial devolution to allow them to govern economic transformation more effectively is a natural next step and if done well could accelerate productivity gains in the medium term.
Similarly, the role of local government is paramount in supporting healthy, happy communities, and I would echo the call of others for a new, long-term funding package to be delivered. I worry that without it there will simply not be the capacity required to support the kind of economic growth the government wants to see from the regions.
Lynda Shillaw, chief executive, Harworth Group
