New quango may fail to repeat the success of those it replaces

Mar 27 2008 by Ben Schofield, Liverpool Daily Post

LIVERPOOL’S new regeneration super-quango may struggle to repeat the success of the organisations it replaces, senior public sector executives and business leaders have warned.

There are worries the new Liverpool Vision will fail to strike the right balance between public accountability and autonomy.

The doubts were echoed by Professor Michael Parkinson whose independent report into the old Liverpool Vision is published today.

Prof Parkinson is director of the European Institute for Urban Affairs at Liverpool John Moores University.

In Make No Little Plans, he praises the old regeneration agency for its part in overhauling the city centre.

Liverpool owes the agency a “debt of gratitude” for driving forward projects such as those on City Square on Tithebarn Street, the waterfront and St Paul’s Square, the report adds.

The revived city centre is the economic powerhouse of the region, housing 50% of Liverpool’s jobs and providing 50% of the city’s economic contribution or gross value added [GVA].

Prof Parkinson urged Liverpool to market itself better to attract investors from the South East.

And he says a priority for the new Vision should be to draw up a strategy to equip Liverpudlians with the skills to take part in the boom.

In researching the report, Prof Parkinson interviewed key stakeholders in the city some of whom, he said, were worried the new Vision will be too public sector-led.

A crucial strength of the old Vision was that the private sector was well represented on its board and it was business friendly, he added.

The old Liverpool Vision will merge with Liverpool Land Development Company, and Business Liverpool in April to form the new body.

Speaking exclusively to the Daily Post ahead of the report launch, Prof Parkinson said: “It’s very important the new company can be a critical friend to the council.

“This [old Vision] has worked well and it’s important the new organisation has the autonomy that the old one had – and that’s a very sensible thing to say.”

Prof Parkinson’s concern is mostly due to his belief that since its inception in 1999, Vision has been instrumental in the success of Liverpool’s city centre.

He continued: “This is a very different place to even 10 years ago. It just feels much more mature, much more grown up and the quality of the stuff that’s now been done – it’s just far better than anything we have done in the past.”

Over its 10-year lifespan, Vision spent £589.5m, created 2,692 jobs and saw 83,200 square metres of new floor space go on the market.

But he said the job was not yet finished.

“It declined over 30 years. It isn’t going to be fixed in 10 – these are 20 or 25 year jobs.

“But now we have a better offer we need to market it better in London and the South East.

benschofield