2nd opinion: Opportunity is knocking

Next week will see the country’s first postal referendum determine the future for an elected regional assembly in the North-east. Stretching from Cumbria to the Tees, this is the only one of the three northern regions originally earmarked for an assembly that showed enough enthusiasm for the idea to actually get one.

The government expects a low turnout for the vote in the North-east, but it believes the people of the North-east will still manage to deliver a “yes” vote. With such a supportive Westminster government and a strong sense of cultural coherence among the people of the region, the timing appears to be right. But can regional rule work in a country where centralised government has been a fact of life for a millennium, and in a region that is so dependent on others following the demise of its traditional industries?

Vital to success will be the effective regeneration of the region. The track record on physical regeneration is good – for instance with the transformation of the river frontage in Newcastle and Gateshead – but economic and community regeneration lag considerably behind.

Delivering these latter two essentials will be the principal task of the new assembly to be elected – probably in 2005 – following a “yes” vote in the referendum. Crafting a vision to motivate latent entrepreneurial spirit across such a diverse geographical area and a range of public and private stakeholders will not be easy, but there are now several good examples of success from continental Europe and Scotland and Wales.

Positioning the region in relation to its competitors may be the most important judgment call the assembly has to make: will it be a region within England, the UK or within Europe? Choose the right option and economic and community regeneration will follow; the wrong one will will result in frustrating delays.

Social housing, too, has a very important role to play. The multi-million pound decent homes programme will bolster communities, but more than that it represents a real opportunity for the social housing sector to take regional regeneration strategies to a new level.

Key to this will be holding the “one-off” government cash within the region rather than allowing it to seep out to the rest of the country. Partnering agreements – whereby private sector service providers and clients foster long-term relationships – can prevent that: they encourage the development of sustainable regional skills and businesses rather than furthering the prosperity of itinerant workers and national or international companies. The John Egan report on the skills needed to deliver sustainable communities has provided the framework: it is for local government to make it work regionally.

A recent survey by think tank the New Local Government Network found that, generally, public bodies were doing little to truly prepare for elected regional assemblies. So a new one in the North-east with a direct or influenced expenditure budget of over £1bn each year that follows the partnering principles trail-blazed by the social housing sector could become a model for the rest of the public sector. It could lead the way in providing workable strategies for regional governance and integration between the broad swathe of central and local government services.

And perhaps the advent of regional governance in the North-east will allow social housing to really shine through partnering as well.