Untangling the Golden Thread

Delivering the growth agenda: The experiences of Birmingham City CouncilWaheed NazirDirector of Planning and RegenerationBirmingham City Council

41st

Joint Planning Law Conference Oxfordwww.jplc.org

20 -22 Sept 2013 New College Oxford

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INTRODUCTION

1. This paper examines how local authorities can take the lead in delivering the Government’s growth agenda through stimulating development activity and job creation.1

2. The paper is written from the specific perspective of my role at Birmingham City Council, as Director of Planning and Regeneration for the last three years. Over this period there has been major change both nationally and locally in the planning and development world which has meant we have had to think innovatively about our approach. I will begin by briefly outlining my role as Director and the Department’s structure. I will then set out my four headline recommendations for how local authorities can take the lead and support the growth agenda:

(1) Setting the Vision (2) Providing Planning Certainty (3) Enabling Delivery (4) Forming Effective Partnerships

3. In each case, I will consider one or two major examples that demonstrate our

recent experience: (1) The Big City Plan; (2) Birmingham Development Plan, Duty to Cooperate and Local Development Orders; (3) The City Centre Enterprise Zone (with specific reference to the Paradise Circus redevelopment); (4) The Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), Duty to Cooperate and Business Improvement Districts.

4. I will conclude by observing that local authorities need to learn from the changed political and economic environment, to get to a new place in the way that they seek to provide planning services and thereby deliver growth.

                                                            1I am grateful for the assistance of Richard Cowell, Development Planning Manager (City Centre), Birmingham City Council, and James Corbet Burcher, Barrister, No5 Chambers in the preparation of this paper. 

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PLANNING AT BIRMINGHAM CITY COUNCIL

5. Birmingham City Council (BCC) is the largest local authority in Western

Europe, with an administrative area containing over 1 million people,2and covering over 250 square kilometres. The city is the focal point for financial, business and industrial activity in the Midlands, and attracts capital investment and inward migration both nationally and internationally. However the City Council also has to deal with the very significant problems which affect any large urban area: housing shortage, transport stress, localised deprivation, all in the context of the economic downturn and significant cuts to Central Government funding. There is also the challenge of ensuring the city remains a competitive proposition in the international arena.

6. The City Council has traditionally taken a proactive stance in supporting growth and enabling development and this continues in our contemporary approach: both in terms of the range of mechanisms deployed, and the innovative way in which we deploy them.

7. In the last three years we have also transformed our internal organisation, moving from a traditional, ‘siloed’ local authority planning department, with separate divisions for planning management, and regeneration, employment and development towards an integrated and multidisciplinary approach. As Director, my responsibilities extend to all areas which interact with land use planning, including education and housing.

8. The Planning and Regeneration Department is divided into four specific geographical areas, North, South, East and City Centre, each containing three individual teams covering (i) Development Management; (ii) Regeneration, and (iii) Development Planning. Each area is under the leadership of a manager, who then report directly to me as Director. This structure ensures that the teams can operate in a self-sufficient way, combining skills and knowledge and developing coherent strategies for their respective areas. The department also has a major projects team, enforcement, urban design and conservation group and a small planning strategy team which support the overall planning and regeneration function. This cross-cutting approach has a powerful influence on our strategic vision and the way in which we seek to ensure the delivery of economic growth.

                                                            2 2011 Census figures: 1,073,045 

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DELIVERING THE GROWTH AGENDA 1) SETTING THE VISION

9. Planning is, naturally, all about setting a vision for the future. However, it is essential to set out that vision in the right way, structured in a format that is appropriate to local circumstances. The vision must be aspirational and optimistic, to generate excitement about future opportunities and attract potential private and public investors.

The Big City Plan

10. The Big City Plan is the process whereby we have set out our vision for Birmingham’s City Centre, articulating where we want to take the City’s key economic asset and visitor destination over the next 20 years.3 The Big City Plan has been essential to our success in securing the City Centre Enterprise Zone (EZ) and infrastructure investment for the city. It has also enabled the city to capture attention around the world and present a clear story of where the City Centre is going, as the economic engine for Birmingham and the West Midlands. The Big City Plan is not a statutory plan, but it is a formal statement of our intentions, based on very substantial preparatory work with a locally-specific methodology.

Development of the Plan

11. The Big City Plan builds upon the long pre-history of regeneration in the City Centre, rooted in the comprehensive re-development of the city in the post-war era, followed by the significant regeneration of sites such as the Bullring and Brindleyplace in the 1990s and early 2000s. There were discussions about the next step during the mid-2000s, leading up to the 2007 publication of the Birmingham City Centre Masterplan: Visioning Study and formal commencement in February 2008.4

12. The initial concept for the Big City Plan was to produce a statutory planning

document in the form of an Area Action Plan (AAP). This would cover the 800 hectares of the City Centre and provide development policy and land use allocations for a 15 year period. Stage 1 ran from 2008 to 2010 and included widespread consultation on the aims and opportunities. However, as progress was made, it became clear that an AAP was not a suitable tool for the task and a new direction was needed. The AAP was too rigid, complex and would not provide the presentational impact which we needed to promote the

                                                            3http://bigcityplan.birmingham.gov.uk/ 4 Report of Professor Michael Parkinson CBE, Liverpool John Moores University http://www.ljmu.ac.uk/EIUA/EIUA_Docs/Birmingham_report_2.pdf 

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opportunities and vision. This led to a critical review of the approach and in January 2010 we made a change of direction.

13. In Stage 2, we decided to create a non-statutory Masterplan for the City

Centre. Between January and August 2010 an in-house team of planners and designers produced the Masterplan culminating in the September 2010 publication of the City Centre Masterplan document. The Masterplan has therefore been designed by local planners for local planning, beginning with asking ourselves where we wanted to go with the plan, and what precisely we wanted to achieve. The result is a document that is advanced but also accessible to all, including the general public. Part of the document’s power lies in the partnership approach that we adopted to its production working with key stakeholders with a desire to help drive forward the success of the City Centre.

14. Seeking the buy-in from a wide audience was central to giving the document credibility and ensuring that it was a deliverable vision. As I will explore later local authorities need to work in partnership to bring forward development and implement plans and proposals. In the case of the Big City Plan the engagement started at the outset of the plan’s production whereby stakeholder events informed the inception and concepts. Extensive public consultation was undertaken involving as wide a range of people as possible. Moving into the second stage, the City Council had already explored ideas and opportunities and now needed to focus on a deliverable plan that would serve the city for the next 20 years.

15. Integral to this was the creation of a sounding board consisting of key

individuals who could champion the plan. This also gave us the opportunity to test the ideas and develop an approach which was visionary but implementable. Equally it was important that we worked with key forums in the City Centre including those representing developers and public transport to ensure that the final plan had full support of those at the forefront of its delivery. The culmination of this, including a further round of public engagement, meant we had a plan that had the confidence of key players in the city and thus the Big City Plan represented a vision that we could be confident would see out the 20 year time horizon.

16. In this respect, 2010 was a good starting point: around the low-point in the downturn, but also at a key time to take advantage of Central Government funding, including through the LEPs. We were well placed after that to bid for the EZ and secure that designation, on the basis of the vision that we had set out.

Current Use of the Masterplan

17. The Masterplan is the blueprint for how the City Centre will develop over the next 20 years and beyond. Its key aims include the expansion of the City Centre by 25%, delivery of new landmark developments, the improvement of

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connectivity, enhancements to public spaces and the promotion of the historic fabric and unique character areas.5 The key principles and proposals of the Big City Plan are being embedded in the Birmingham Development Plan and where more local detail is required we will bring forward other planning documents to provide this.

18. The Masterplan now guides much of our approach and that of our partners to planning for the City Centre. Although our decisions are, consistent with our statutory duty, based on the existing development plan (although this is currently undergoing the next stage of development), we find that the Big City Plan can assist our decision-making, without detracting from or conflicting with the statutory plan process. We also find that developers understand the Masterplan and appreciate the certainty and vision that it provides.

19. What needs to be recognised, however, is that the Big City Plan is not a

statutory plan for the very reason that we wanted a visionary document that could be aspirational but also provide flexibility. While a Sustainability Appraisal (SA) was undertaken as part of the early stages of the Big City Plan, when an AAP was being contemplated, it was not taken forward for the very reason that we would not use the Masterplan to make land use decisions. What is important is that the Big City Plan enabled the city to draw together all the initiatives and proposals into one rational strategy set against a backdrop of a clear vision of the opportunities. It now allows people to clearly see where the City Centre is going, what the priorities are and how the city and its stakeholders see transformation occurring.

20. Moreover, we will also be able to use the Masterplan to influence our Area Action Plans and Supplementary Planning Documents, with the benefit of an original document which is better suited to the scale and vision of what we are trying to achieve.

21. So the principal benefit of the Big City Plan initiative has been in providing a platform to explain our vision to outside sources and to take advantage of the various funding and development opportunities which have arisen.

Summary

22. At the present time many local authorities are still reforming their development plans. This is invariably a long and complex process. Local authorities do, however, need to look beyond current difficulties, to be ambitious and carve out an aspirational vision. If the current statutory framework is too constraining, then they should explore alternative formats, just as we have done.

                                                            5http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/bigcityplan and Masterplan, page 10 

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2) PROVIDING PLANNING CERTAINTY

23. Setting out the vision establishes the basis for my next theme: providing planning certainty. It is essential to provide clear and comprehensive planning policy for developers, investors, and other stakeholders to give them confidence in how applications for development will be dealt with, and make related investment decisions.

The Birmingham Development Plan

24. The Birmingham Development Plan (BDP) will be an important part of providing that certainty, setting a framework to guide decisions on development and regeneration in Birmingham until 2031.6The preparation of the BDP started in 2007 when the City Council decided that a new strategic planning document was needed to guide future growth and development across the whole city. In Autumn 2008, a period of public consultation was held seeking views on a proposed strategy and a range of options for delivering housing and economic growth. Following this consultation, further work was carried out and, in December 2010, the Birmingham Core Strategy Consultation Draft was published.

25. As progress was being made in producing the final version of the BDP a

number of significant changes occurred. The publication of the National Planning Policy Framework and the emergence of higher population projections required a review of how the City should plan for future development which necessitated a further round of consultation to identify options for meeting the new challenges. Between October 2012 and January 2013, a further options consultation on ‘Planning for Birmingham’s growing population’ was held.7We are now moving towards submission for examination in 2014. The clear strategy and long-term focus on land use proposals are helping to shape investment decisions and infrastructure planning in the city.

26. As I have already observed, there is a close inter-relationship with the Big City Plan, which has provided additional certainty in the interim. The BDP also draws on the work which underlies the Masterplan. However it has been a long drawn-out process reflecting the uncertainties introduced by the abolition of the Regional Strategies, the introduction of the NPPF, the economic downturn and the emergence of the duty to cooperate.

                                                            6http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/corestrategy 7 Birmingham Development Plan: Planning for Birmingham’s growing population, Options Consultation(October 2012) 

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The Duty to Cooperate

27. The duty to cooperate has posed a number of difficulties for achieving planning certainty. The duty is crucial to our strategic planning for housing provision over the next decades. Birmingham has traditionally relied on its neighbours across the wider region to accommodate some of its housing requirements, based upon a clear, and identifiably regional strategy. The recent abolition of the Regional Strategy tier has meant a key strand is missing and local authorities must go it alone to determine the levels of growth and how it could be distributed. This is not straightforward and introduces a significant level of uncertainty.

28. Birmingham’s housing target is around 80,000 homes by 2031, but there is

only physical space within the urban area for around 43,000 as City Centre apartment living schemes which formed a key part of our build rates, have declined since the recession. We are currently exploring Green Belt potential as the city’s boundaries are severely constrained by the historic designation and population growth is putting pressure on the need for more land. That shortfall will however, to some extent, be met by neighbouring and other West Midlands local authorities. Whatever the disadvantages of the preceding Regional Strategy framework, it provided much greater certainty and impetus for delivery.

29. Like most local authorities, we are still awaiting a fuller definition of the duty to co-operate, whether by DCLG or the courts. However it is clear that section 33A of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (as introduced by the Localism Act 2011) requires a very proactive approach by local authorities and substantial progress towards agreement through memoranda or other documents.

30. A number of local authorities’ local plans are undergoing examination at the

moment (Coventry CC, Solihull MBC, and Lichfield DC) and we have submitted representations to each in turn. Although we have sought to be constructive, on several occasions we have had to highlight insufficient housing provision. Failure to address the duty has had and will continue to have serious consequences for those examinations, for example, Coventry were forced to withdraw their plan in March 2013. By contrast, at Lichfield, statements of common ground could be produced, on the basis that the work would be carried out later, partly via work to be promoted by the LEP. In practice, the duty to co-operate is therefore beginning to become better understood, and there is potentially a clearer route to dealing with the problem of implementing housing provision set out for the lifetime of those plans once adopted. It does rely on each local authority recognising the bigger picture and focusing their attention on a collaborative approach.

31. There is however a danger that, without full cooperation and buy-in, no

progress will be made and the very real issue of how we deal with undersupply of housing will go unanswered. What we want to avoid is a situation where each local authority is making representations at each other’s

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local plan inquiries on the basis that there has been a lack of cooperation in dealing with an issue that is shared. However it is early days and my discussion of the role of the LEP below will highlight the positive yet challenging experience of planning strategically at the local level.

Local Development Orders

32. We have also provided greater planning certainty through the use of Local Development Orders at Digbeth and Aston, two major regeneration areas in the City Centre.8 They have been implemented in conjunction with the City Centre Enterprise Zone (considered below) to enable certain changes of use to take place without the need for planning permission. The approach responds to the physical environment of these areas and the types of users so that the small scale re-use of buildings can be promoted. It provides a clear statement that certain activity is appropriate in these locations giving individuals the confidence to invest. We are now adopting a similar approach in other parts of the city to help provide the same conditions and target areas where there is the greatest opportunity for economic activity.

Other Issues

33. Certainty is by no means confined to local policy. The NPPF is on the whole a useful step forward in simplification of policy, but it has not brought the certainty one could have done, particularly in relation to the duty to cooperate and the meaning of sustainable development. The threat of legal challenge to decision-making and plan-making, especially with respect to matters such as Sustainability Appraisal and Strategic Environmental Assessment, also presents further difficulties to the achievement of certainty in the planning system. The complexity of these areas can make the preparation of planning documents seem like a minefield at times.

Summary

34. Planning certainty is absolutely critical to growth, and local authorities who can provide that certainty sooner will advance ahead, notwithstanding the pressure of external forces. The Government have a very important role in ensuring planning certainty thus creating a solid platform for growth. To date the experience has been mixed as a result of the range of new initiatives aimed at freeing up the planning system. It is questionable as to whether these have achieved the desired outcome. One thing is however clear that those issues, such as housing, infrastructure and economic development, which need a much more strategic approach to their planning and delivery

                                                            8 LDO for Digbeth and LDO for Birmingham Science Park, both adopted 16 May 2012 

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require a much greater degree of certainty about how they should be dealt with. At present the tools are not in place to enable this to happen.

3) ENABLING DELIVERY OF DEVELOPMENT

35. With the aforementioned vision in place, and planning certainty established, it

is up to local authorities then to do all that they can to enable the delivery of development. That includes finding an appropriate revenue-raising structure, without foregoing income. There are many funding streams available, the key is to find the right one.

36. Central Government will continue to bear the greatest burden in funding infrastructure, although it can always do more. High Speed Two (HS2) and other nationally significant infrastructure projects are game changers. The City Council has been proactive in working with HS2 Ltd and welcome the proposal to locate the terminus station in the City Centre. There is however a lot of detail to work through as the scheme progresses.

37. The Government’s Regional Growth Fund (RGF) has also been an important

source of revenue, alongside the Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative (AMSCI), the national project, launched in March 2012, aimed at increasing manufacturing sector growth potential, which looks to address market failures and improve the competitiveness of supply chains as well as attracting new manufacturers to the area.

38. European funding has also been of considerable assistance. The European

Regional Development Fund (ERDF) West Midlands programme, which is centred on Competitiveness and Employment has involved €400 million of investment. The operational programme directs part of this funding towards Birmingham.

39. More recently, the role of the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has become central to the allocation of funding and support for economic growth. The interaction with the LEP will be discussed below, but in specific relation to the establishment and delivery of the Enterprise Zone initiative its role has been crucial. They have provided a business focus helping to implement the Government’s broad agenda.

The Enterprise Zone

40. The concept of Enterprise Zones was substantially repackaged by the current Government in 2010. Birmingham’s City Centre was designated as an Enterprise Zone by the Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP in April 2011. Securing the Enterprise Zone status stemmed from the ability to demonstrate a clear strategy and vision for growth articulated through the Big City Plan. Without the presence of the Big City Plan we would not have been in a

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position to demonstrate how the Enterprise Zone benefits could be utilised and levels of development and job creation that could be achieved.

41. The City Centre Enterprise Zone (EZ) comprises 26 sites across the city centre, organised within seven clusters, as those identified in the Big City Plan as offering significant growth opportunities: (a) Westside, (b) Snow Hill District, (c) Eastside, (d) Southern Gateway, (e) Digbeth Creative Cluster, (f) Birmingham Science Park Aston, and (g) the Jewellery Quarter.

42. Our approach was not just to cover business generally, but to focus on those economic sectors which are already clustered in the City Centre and which reflect the best growth opportunities: business, professional and financial services, ICT sector, creative industries and digital media. As part of the Big City Plan process we undertook significant baseline work to understand growth prospects of different sectors. This work was essential in informing the way that we constructed the zone.

43. The Government’s intention with Enterprise Zones was to stimulate economic growth through a range of incentives. We have found that state aid rules limited rates relief, and marketing support and the offer of simplified planning were not sufficient to stimulate sufficient activity and development interest. However the game changing factor has been the ability for the LEP to retain the uplift in business rates generated within the zone and to apply these to fund economic priorities. In establishing the EZ we undertook detailed modelling of the development pipeline and business rates uplift to understand what was possible. This has then formed the basis for the allocation of funding based upon the level of retained uplift in business rates.

44. In July 2012 the LEP agreed the first EZ Investment Plan worth £128 million.

This fund will enable us to accelerate the delivery of infrastructure to help stimulate development activity and provide conditions for sustained growth. The approach is very similar to the US-originating tax increment financing (TIF) model whereby borrowing is undertaken against future projected uplift in business rates on the basis of the detailed modelling that was undertaken in setting up the EZ.

Paradise Circus Redevelopment

45. Paradise Circus, a major City Centre site, is a key project to benefit from its EZ status and the funding secured through the Investment Plan.9Here, we are using a combination of the EZ, Joint Venture (JV), existing Local Authority property assets and Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) to help facilitate and deliver this major transformational development.

                                                            9http://www.paradisecircus.co.uk/ 

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46. The scheme requires a total of £83.4m of funding to meet the costs of public infrastructure works including highways, demolitions and landscaping. A number of options to fund these works were considered including TIF. With the launch of the EZ initiative this provided a mechanism to fund the infrastructure and abnormal development costs. The site’s inclusion in the EZ has enabled the funding to be secured. The funding will utilise the uplift in business rates generated in the zone and allow the City Council to undertake prudential borrowing enabling upfront investment. This prudential borrowing will be paid back over the lifetime of the zone by the uplift in business rates generated in the zone. The City Council will continue to engage with relevant accountancy and audit firms to appraise schemes and develop business cases.

47. Securing funding is only part of the story of enabling this development to happen. The City Council is using its own land assets to enable this major regeneration scheme to proceed. A JV arrangement has been formed with the developer Argent, who also own land in the site, to address the complex property, ownership and financial matters surrounding the redevelopment of the site and to provide certainty for the delivery of the scheme. The scheme can only be delivered through a comprehensive approach which enables the complex delivery programmes to be co-ordinated. The JV entity will obtain necessary consents and assemble the land to enable the re-development. The JV will remain in place until the development of the site is complete, currently envisaged to be in 2027.

Summary

48. Adopting a creative approach to funding development has become central to delivery, and those authorities who look more broadly will be most successful. The re-packaged EZ format can work well, provided it is approached with appropriate preparation and a measure of specificity. Local authorities need to consider not just enterprise in general, but the types of individual operator that can benefit. It also shows that we have to think creatively and combine public sector focus on creating the conditions for growth with the private sector mentality on delivery and adding value.

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4) FORMING AND WORKING WITHIN PARTNERSHIPS

49. Finally, once the vision, certainty and delivery are in place or underway, it is long-term partnerships that are key to maintaining growth. There are accepted limits to what local authorities can achieve on their own, and the need for collaboration and partnership working is recognised by all. However, the precise format for such partnerships has been the subject of significant upheaval. I consider that the new Local Enterprise Partnership model, and local partners such as Business Improvement Districts, represent a step forward.

Local Enterprise Partnerships

50. Local Enterprise Partnerships were first announced in the 2010 Budget speech, followed by the DCLG/DBIS letter of 29 June 2010, sent to local authorities and business leaders inviting the proposals for the formation of partnerships which would be voluntary, locally driven entities promoting growth. They were intended partly to replace the regional development agencies, leading economic development in ‘functional economic areas’, albeit initially without significant Central Government resources. There are currently 39 recognised LEPs in England, covering a very substantial portion of urbanised areas. There is also now a limited statutory definition in regulation 4(3) of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012/767: ““local  enterprise  partnership” means a body, designated by the Secretary of State, which is established for the purpose of creating or improving the conditions for economic growth in an area”.

51. Nationally, the LEP format is still evolving. Consistent with the local character of the format, governance structures, the make-up of Boards, the level of resources and responsibilities differ greatly. Some consistency is ensured through the LEP Network, which provides information about national developments.10All LEPs seek to ensure that their decision-making and funding allocation are transparent, although the precise structures for accountability and monitoring are still to be worked out. Government monitoring may be instituted as the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee recommended back in April of this year, whilst recognising that “centralised and overly-prescribed objectives would go against the local and regional purpose of LEPs”.11

The Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership

52. The Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) was

established in October 2010, following wide consultation with the business

                                                            10 http://www.lepnetwork.org.uk/ 11Business, Innovation and Skills Committee, Ninth Report of Session 2012–13, Local Enterprise Partnerships (HC 598) (26 April 2013), Chapter 4, paragraph 55 

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community and stakeholders.12 The LEP extends in a north-south axis, covering East Staffordshire, Lichfield and Tamworth, Bromsgrove, Cannock Chase, Redditch and Wyre Forest, comprising 2 million people and over 840,000 jobs. An initial Development Board oversaw its establishment, with further recruitment of the current Board, comprising 18 Directors, ten from the business community, seven from local authorities and one representing higher/further education, first meeting together on 8 June 2011.

53. The LEP’s mission is to create jobs and grow the economy and in doing so raise the quality of life for all of the LEP’s population. Its objective is to provide clear direction on those things that will make a difference; focussing on a small number of key priorities in order to create a globally competitive city region with a productive, prosperous and job-creating economy. When the LEP was formed it had no funding, no powers and limited influence. This is now changing and the LEP is working closely with local authorities, businesses and Central Government to secure funding streams and influence growth.

54. The LEP has a number of key methods of funding delivery, one has been the

Enterprise Zone (discussed earlier) and the other is the City Deal. Announced in July 2012 the City Deal is a bespoke package of measures to drive economic growth and exploit the area’s economic assets. The idea is to give the LEP new powers to build infrastructure, create jobs and train local people with the right skills to fill them. This represents a major shift in the powers and levers available to local leaders and businesses so they are able to shape the local economy.

55. The City Deal will also create GBS Finance, an investment fund of £1.5 billion

that will manage, invest, recycle and leverage a number of public and private sector funding streams to deliver local infrastructure projects.

56. We have found the role of the LEP very positive to date, and it has significantly assisted us with the implementation of the Enterprise Zone and the production of the Birmingham Development Plan. When we appear before the examinations of local plans of neighbouring authorities, it has proved an important aspect of the consideration of whether the duty to cooperate has been met, and whether there are mechanisms in place to deal with issues arising after the adoption of those plans but before the adoption of our own Development Plan (see above).

Local Partners

57. Alongside working at a more strategic level it is important to establish and maintain relationships within the local area. For example the Business Improvement Districts (BID) have proved useful in pursuing the growth agenda. A BID is a defined geographical area within which local businesses collaborate to invest in projects, services and initiatives aiming to improve the

                                                            12http://centreofenterprise.com/ 

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environment in which they work. BIDs deliver additional services to those provided by local authority; these projects and services are the result of business investment in the area. A BID is a democratically elected company; businesses within the defined area vote on the objectives set out in the proposal and the company will run for a five year term. The BIDs are financed through a levy based upon rateable value which is typically set at 1% above a certain threshold.

58. They provide two main benefits; first, the ability to raise funding and secondly,

as a coordinating body. In both cases we have found that once established and properly run and funded they can become key allies in delivering the vision for an area. In the City Centre we have five BIDs covering the core area. We are also pursuing a series of BIDs for local centres throughout the City which will help provide a focus for addressing some of the challenges that these areas face.13

59. In relation to the implementation of the Big City Plan and the growth agenda

the BIDs have been instrumental in a number of ways. Through their ability to leverage funding on rateable value they can invest in specific projects that support their area. In the case of the Colmore Business District, funding of £250,000 has been invested alongside City Council funds into the delivery of a new public square in the area. While the project is just one example of public realm improvements brought forward as part of the Big City Plan it emphasises the value of a partnership approach at the local level.

60. The BIDs represent just one of our partners and these span both the private

and public sector. In delivering our growth agenda we need to work closely with a wide range of organisations at local, LEP and national level. In the case of the High Speed Two scheme we have had to create partnerships within the council (transportation and highways), locally with public transport providers and local business representatives, regionally with other authorities and nationally with HS2 Ltd and Central Government. Inevitably there are compromises and conflicts but it highlights the complex nature of relationships that need to be forged to bring forward projects that are at the heart of delivering future growth and prosperity.

Summary

61. The key area for partnerships now lies in inter-authority working, in the post-regional world. LEPs can provide effective working in partnership but also not to underestimate local influence and the value that good partnerships and proactive approaches with a shared vision can deliver.

                                                            13http://www.broadstreetbirmingham.com/broad-street-business-improvement-district/; http://colmorebusinessdistrict.com/ ; http://www.southsidebid.co.uk/ ; http://www.shoppinginbirmingham.com/rb/ ; http://www.jewelleryquarter.net/jqbid/http://www.erdingtontowncentre.com/about-us ; http://enjoykingsheath.com/ 

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CONCLUSION

62. The city of Birmingham is built on a long tradition of innovation and

entrepreneurial spirit in the industrial and scientific spheres. We have continued that tradition in the way in which we plan for the city, and seek to deliver its continued growth and regeneration in the next 20 years.

63. There are enduring difficulties from the way that planning is structured and guided by Central Government. Successive attempts to tinker with the planning system have tended to increase complexity and introduce more uncertainty. Much of the change can seem peripheral, rather than dealing with the fundamental issues. Our experience is that there remain too many constraints, especially in the application of the financial tools. The Government needs to provide greater clarity and policy direction, whilst reducing some of the centralised control over its own initiatives, especially those that are intended to promote local responsibility. However it is only fair to make a balanced assessment and recognise the improvements and that there is a something to be gained under the most recent reforms.

64. There is no magic formula as every place has different circumstances and challenges but our experience in Birmingham is that the above four elements are key to supporting growth. We are operating on a very large scale, but I consider that much of what we have achieved could be implemented elsewhere. Ultimately, all local authorities have to learn to get to a different place in the way that they deliver the core function of planning for, and ultimately, delivering growth. Confidence is returning, and whatever the global picture, it is important to look ahead and continue to plan positively.

 

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APPENDIX A CHRONOLOGY May 2010 Coalition Government formed September 2010 Big City Plan launched December 2010 Birmingham Core Strategy Consultation Draft launched for

public consultation –a key stage in producing the next statutory development plan for Birmingham

March 2011 HM Treasury announce Enterprise Zones initiative in 2011

Budget and DCLG publish Enterprise Zones Prospectus April 2011 The Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise

Partnership (LEP) choose Birmingham's City Centre as the location for their Enterprise Zone (EZ)

July 2011 The Big City Plan formally endorsed by the Cabinet of the City

Council as its vision for the future transformation of the City Centre

December 2011 The Eastside Masterplan launched – setting out how the

terminus for the proposed High Speed Two rail could be accommodated within the City Centre

March 2012 Publication of National Planning Policy Framework July 2012 The EZ Investment Plan approved by the LEP October 2012 The Birmingham Development Plan - Planning for

Birmingham’s growing population - Options Consultation launched as next stage in producing the statutory development plan for Birmingham

January 2013 Launch of Greater Birmingham Project February 2013 Publication of Birmingham City Centre Enterprise Zone

Prospectus March 2013 Publication of “The Greater Birmingham Project: The Path to

Local Growth”

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APPENDIX B BIRMINGHAM CITY COUNCIL - AREAS

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APPENDIX C LOCAL ENTERPRISE PARTNERSHIP

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