News release

Baroness Ford, Chairman of national regeneration agency English Partnerships, said the creation of Communities England was a natural and important step with the potential to transform the way in which mixed communities are delivered across England.

Following the announcement made (today) by Communities Secretary, Ruth Kelly, Baroness Ford added,  “I believe that through this new agency we will see an important step change in the way we deliver regeneration and housing programmes across the country.  Individually the agencies are delivering very good results, but together we can be exceptional.  This is a massive opportunity to work more effectively with all of our partners and create even better homes and better places for local people and their communities.”

Communities England will be formed by bringing together the functions of English Partnerships, the Housing Corporation and some of the work of Communities and Local Government, with the aim of a fully operational organisation as soon as possible. Baroness Ford will head up a transition team that will include senior executives from English Partnerships and the Housing Corporation and it will undertake the planning for the new organisation.

However, during the transition period, the individual agencies will continue to deliver their existing programmes.  English Partnerships Chief Executive, John Walker, stressed that it would be ‘business as usual’ for the agency.  “We’ll definitely be keeping our foot on the gas when it comes to our programmes,” said Walker.  “We are still all about meeting our targets and ensuring that we maintain the confidence of our public and private sector partners.  Communities England will have a far bigger and more complex programme and the opportunities arising from an organisation with a budget of more than £4 bn are extremely positive for everyone involved in regeneration.”

The new agency is predicted to have more than £4 bn of public funds at its disposal.  It will pioneer innovative and more efficient ways of working with key partners in the public, private and voluntary sectors to maximise the value of public sector investment in regeneration and housing.

The decision to merge the organisations and their functions was as a result of a Housing and Regeneration Review, launched in April 2006 by Communities Secretary, Ruth Kelly.

In the financial year 2005/06, English Partnerships reported an investment programme of £836m, its highest ever recorded expenditure.  Programme receipts through sale of land and assets, amounted to £280m and the agency’s programmes attracted £664m in private sector investment.  During the year, English Partnerships was responsible for completing more than 3,000 homes and work began on more than 7,000 further homes across England. 

  English Partnerships is the government’s national regeneration agency delivering high quality, sustainable growth in England. We do this by developing our portfolio of strategic projects and acting as the government’s advisor on brownfield land. We also ensure that surplus public sector assets are used to support wider government objectives, especially those contained in the Sustainable Communities Plan. English Partnerships helps create communities where people can afford to live and want to live.

The current English Partnerships was created in May 1999 with the merger of the Commission for the New Towns (CNT) and the Urban Regeneration Agency. The two organisations carry out their activities under the name English Partnerships.  More information can be found at  www.englishpartnerships.co.uk/statutorybackground.htm