We do not currently have any plans to make it policy to collect centrally information on the work of regional improvement and efficiency partnership in respect of seaside towns. However in the future, emerging findings from progress reports on economic development will give the opportunity to analyse the work of RIEPs on seaside towns.
The framework, ‘Transforming places; changing lives: a framework for regeneration’, sets out Government's vision for regeneration for the whole of England over the next 10 years.
During the consultation period, officials met the British Urban Regeneration Association (BURA) who invited members from their Seaside Network to attend the meeting. My officials have also taken opportunities to promote the draft framework since the document was launched in July and to engage seaside towns in the consultation exercise, through meetings of the RDA-led Coastal Areas Network and the main seaside town “umbrella” organisations, including the Coastal Communities Alliance (CCA), and the British Resorts and Destinations Association (BRADA).
The role and use of regeneration schemes are a matter for local decision making. The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) became operational on 1 December 2008. We established the HCA to join up the delivery of housing and regeneration and it will provide the expertise and the skills to assist local authorities and communities to deliver the ambitions they have for their area.
I have today placed in the Library a list of those who responded to the consultation on the proposed Regeneration Framework, "Transforming Places; changing lives": a framework for regeneration. The framework covers the whole of England—not just seaside towns.