Renaissance 'lacks vital ingredients'

Lord Rogers, head of the Urban Task Force commissioned by the government to produce a blueprint for regenerating Britain’s inner cities, welcomed the paper as "a vision for what our towns and cities could be like in twenty years".

But Rogers warned that drawing back from using legislation and ignoring some of his key recommendations could undermine urban renewal.

Launching the white paper last week, Prescott said it drew together those past reforms and spending plans for urban regeneration, with new initiatives that would address those recommendations of the task force supported by the government.

"This is a comprehensive approach. There needs to be co-ordination to meet the needs of urban renewal and social justice. Our main concern is a comprehensive framework," he said.

But sitting next to Prescott at a press conference also attended by Nick Raynsford, minister for housing, Rogers said: "The White Paper is a starting point, the end of the beginning. But there are crucial points missing."

He added: "The White Paper does not address the vast amount of rural land earmarked for development, or the loss of GAP funding from the EU."

"It lacks a clear deadline or framework for dealing with the legacy of contaminated land, and it does not create a level playing field on VAT, so that people are still being charged for repairs on existing buildings," he said.

However, Rogers rejected the suggestion made by Archie Norman, shadow secretary of state for the environment, that only 14 of the Urban Task Force’s recommendations has been met in full.

"This is completely incorrect from my limited reading of the paper. I am much more positive and wait to analyse it further," he said.

Prescott indicated that his personal support for VAT equalisation had gone unheeded: "I can assure you that my frustrations are not limited to this area," he said.