Major regeneration projects in some of England’s biggest cities are unlikely to reach their potential if they rely on the government’s latest funding mechanisms, it was claimed this week. Core Cities Group and accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers conducted research focused on Birmingham, Leeds, Nottingham and Sheffield to establish whether the new mechanisms are up to the job. They concluded that the community infrastructure levy (CIL) and business rate supplements (BRS) would struggle to generate enough revenue to fund essential infrastructure like transport, schools and hospitals. CIL is a development tax to raise cash for infrastructure schemes and will be introduced next year, while BRS will allow local authorities by 2010 to raise local supplements on the national business rate to finance economic development projects. In order for regeneration schemes to reach their potential, the group and PricewaterhouseCoopers believe two other funding tools should be introduced to support infrastructure.

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1 October 2008
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