星空传媒

Money is at the heart of two very different reports launched last month. The Audit Commission has given Whitehall mandarins plenty to think about with its report, Financing Council Housing. At the same time the ODPM detailed how it plans to spend the money it will be injecting into making the Northern Way initiative happen.

The Audit Commission鈥檚 scrutiny will not have made comfortable reading for the government. Still, it will come as little surprise to anyone working in housing refurbishment that it concludes that some local authorities are likely to fall short in bringing all their housing stock up to the decent homes standard by the 2010 deadline set by the government.

The reason why they will miss the target is, the report points out, because there is no link between recommendations for capital allocations by regional housing boards and the state of local authority housing stock.

The government is now considering the report鈥檚 recommendations, which include calls for greater local authority self-sufficiency, flexibility to respond to market conditions and accountability, as well as the rewarding of high levels of performance.

The launch of the business plan for the Northern Way marks the start of a flurry of focused activity from the northern regional development agencies and allied agencies over the next three years. Deputy prime minister John Prescott said at the launch that the funding was dedicated to building a stronger economy and quality of life. It is doing that by funding skills and innovation, but it is also putting significant sums into carrying through its sustainable communities agenda.

The minister for communities has said he wants local government to contribute rather than simply comply with demands

Of the 拢100m allocated funding, 拢15m will go into funding centres of excellence in leadership, innovation and skills for the sustainable communities, while 拢10m will go into developing two research centres for science and innovation.

Funding is also being dedicated to finding out how best to get more money into regeneration. Specifically, part of the 拢12m set aside for transport will be looking at the case for a new approach to transport investment; 拢1m will develop evidence for new investment policies in building sustainable communities; and 拢2m will support the development of eight city region development programmes to ensure they attract support.

Under the business plan the eight city regions, which are home to 90% of the North鈥檚 economic activity, have clear targets for their development, ranging from strengthening the tourist profile in the case of Central Lancashire, to developing 鈥渨orld class鈥� infrastructure for Leeds.

Going local is set to be something of a theme for the government鈥檚 third term. New minister for communities David Miliband has said that he wants local government to be contributing to national progress rather than simply complying with demands.