Agenda item 9
Meeting
Middlesbrough Health and Wellbeing Board
Date
Title
Responsible Officer
23 March 2016
Regenerating Inner Middlesbrough
Mike Robinson – Chief Executive, Middlesbrough Council
Purpose of Item
To update the Health and Wellbeing Board on the work being
undertaken around two potential regeneration schemes in
Middlesbrough, and how they are being packaged together as part
of an external funding submission.
Summary of Recommendations
That Middlesbrough Health and Wellbeing Board:
1. Considers how it can best support or contribute to the Regenerating Inner
Middlesbrough expression of interest to ensure that it is as strong, compelling and
inclusive as possible, or to the wider regeneration of Inner Middlesbrough as described
in the report.
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PURPOSE OF THE REPORT
1. To update the Health and Wellbeing Board on the work being undertaken around two
potential regeneration schemes in Middlesbrough, and how they are being packaged
together as part of an external funding submission.
BACKGROUND
2. The physical and social issues experienced in the North Ormesby and Gresham areas
of Middlesbrough are well documented, and a number of regeneration initiatives have
been targeted at improving their fortunes. Whilst progress has been made in Gresham
through the major clearance programme that has been undertaken, it has not been
possible to replicate such activity in North Ormesby, and as a result the area has
continued to decline.
3. The root causes of the issues experienced in both areas are similar, and include:
a. an oversupply of low value, poor quality private rented terraced housing in inner
Middlesbrough that attracts disproportionate amounts of problem families;
b. large concentrations of transient populations such as asylum seekers, economic
migrants and people excluded from formal social housing arrangements; and,
c. large concentrations of people with chaotic lifestyles, causing high levels of drug
and alcohol dependency, and domestic abuse.
4. These problems are having a significant negative effect on our ability to tackle wider
social issues across the town, build community cohesion, improve the performance of
our schools, and reduce demand on acute public services. Unless these issues can be
tackled, the continuing instability will put at risk the emerging narrative that
‘Middlesbrough is Changing’.
Strategic Direction
5. The strategic steps required to address the long-term issues identified in both areas is
clear:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
stabilise transient communities;
regulate the private rented sector to drive up standards (and rental values);
tackle specific areas of physical decline;
use multi-agency approaches to underpin stronger communities; and,
pursue investments that will transform external perceptions of communities.
6. This requires a mix of physical and social interventions.
External Funding
7. Although both areas have been a priority for the Council and its partners for some
time, the recent announcement of funds to support estate regeneration by the
Government has presented an opportunity to pursue additional finance to accelerate
progress. The Estate Regeneration Programme launched by Lord Heseltine on behalf
of the Government is seeking to invest a loan fund of £140 million across over 100
estates around the country. The aim of the fund is primarily to address physical
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deprivation across large social housing estates, and to encourage the building of new
replacement homes.
8. As Lord Heseltine is already actively involved in an advisory capacity across Tees
Valley, it has been made clear that a proposal is expected from Middlesbrough.
Submitting a Middlesbrough Proposal
9. Preparing a submission for Middlesbrough is potentially problematic as:
a. Middlesbrough does not really have the type of social housing estates the
programme is aimed at;
b. the type of physical deprivation issues targeted are not a major issue in
Middlesbrough;
c. clearing sites for the re-provision of housing is not practical in any of our key
regeneration areas;
d. the provision of funding as a loan requires an investment in property that will
ultimately generate a return; and,
e. the provision of funding as a loan makes the social interventions required to
underpin any physical improvements difficult to fund.
10. The approach being taken is therefore one of putting in a submission that focuses on
what is best for Middlesbrough, rather than what best fits the criteria. Ensuring that
there is a robust, deliverable submission that might prompt further discussion with Lord
Heseltine and the Government is being viewed as a higher priority than securing a
share of this specific loan fund for something that may ultimately provide limited
benefit.
Expression of Interest
11. An expression of interest is being developed that brings together the need to improve
conditions in North Ormesby, with the more commercial opportunities presented by the
sites recently cleared in Gresham. The proposal entitled ‘Regenerating Inner
Middlesbrough’ currently includes:
Physical Interventions
a. landlord licensing built around a core early help and community safety offer;
b. selected property purchase to increase opportunities to intervene in the physical
composition of both areas;
c. property refurbishment programmes to improve rental levels and help attract
stable tenancies;
d. disposal of selected properties through flexible purchase options to increase
home ownership;
e. demolition of a small number of properties to open up densely packed areas of
terraced housing; and,
f. development of cleared sites near Teesside University to strengthen the
educational offer in the town.
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Social Interventions
a. life coaching for young people in schools to support better decision making,
increase personal resilience and promote healthier lifestyles;
b. a multi-agency employment task force to provide properly integrated personal
coaching and support to all local JSA claimants (replicating recent work aimed at
former SSI workers);
c. a VCS led ‘finishing school’ for jobseekers to overcome poor employability skills;
d. work with local schools to identify those at risk of becoming NEET and engaging
them in programmes to raise their employability;
e. increased drug and alcohol treatment, using local peer mentors to engage harder
to reach clients and support longer term recovery;
f. expand existing programmes aimed at improving emotional resilience and
support transitions from primary to secondary and from secondary to college /
work;
g. utilise (and pay) local people to engage and ‘sign up’ local people to public health
interventions to increase their long-term resilience and reduce reliance on public
services; and,
h. increase the focus of existing Troubled Families approaches to include further
restorative justice interventions and increase the ‘Team around the Family’.
Outcomes
12. The outcomes sought through this proposal are currently identified as follows:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
improved standards in the private rented sector;
improved properties brought forward for sustainable tenancies;
improved levels of home ownership;
improved physical environment;
greater community stability;
more resilient and healthier young people;
reduced NEETs;
increased employment; and,
reduced number of people with chaotic lifestyles.
Board Engagement
13. Although the Estate Regeneration Programme is officially open, there are no deadlines
for submissions, and the process has been described as being ‘iterative’, relying on
negotiation rather than the usual ‘blind’ competitive process. If the strategy of using the
submission of an expression of interest to secure a longer term negotiation with the
Government over what Middlesbrough needs is to be productive, it is important that
the proposals for inner Middlesbrough are strong, compelling and inclusive.
Recommendation
14. To ensure that the expression of interest is as strong, compelling and inclusive as
possible, it is therefore requested that the Health and Wellbeing Board consider how it
can best support or contribute to the submission, or to the wider regeneration of Inner
Middlesbrough as described above.
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Report prepared by:
Richard Horniman, Assistant Director Supporting Communities
Middlesbrough Council
Tel: 01642 729538
E mail: [email protected]
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