Saint Vince's capitulation

UPDATE 13 April: Ministers have set out their plans to sell-off one in five of the RDAs’ £500m worth of land and property assets, as soon as possible. The details are revealed in a letter from business minister Mark Prisk to shadow business secretary John Denham, attached below.

Yorkshire Forward, the only RDA not to have revealed its advice to ministers, has now published its asset plan. However, ministers have rejected the advive and asked the RDA to think again. See more details below. Full details here.

The full set of the RDAs’ assets plans are attached below.

RDA asset plans - who has provided their advice?

East of England RDA - £11m in public assets

Initally refused to provide any information at all; then after appeal by LGC the agency provided a summary of its plan, which did not include its disposal options. LGC then submitted a further FOI request, asking for its preferred options.

In its subsequent repsonse, EEDA said it had advised ministers that its “preferred and recommended exit route” for its sites and properties was: six assets to be transferred to local authorities at market value; seven to be disposed on the open market at market value; two be transferred to the HCA or “other public body prior to formal closure”; and two further assets be held for “residual transfer to HCA or other public body under a formal transfer scheme on closure”.

However, the agency still refused to identify which specific sites had been earmarked for each exit route, despite other agencies revealing this information. EEDA maintained that revealing such information would “prejudice the commercial interests of EEDA or other parties”.

Yorkshire Forward - £90m in public assets

After being the only RDA not to provide its advice to ministers, Yorkshire Forward finally released its assets plan on 12 April.

Initially the RDA provided a heavily redacted version of its plan, with the recommendations for the disposal of £90m of assets removed. It said DBIS considered the information exempt because it related to the “development of government policy”. But DBIS denied advising Yorkshire Forward in this way.

After an appeal by LGC, the agency still refused to disclose its advice to ministers. But it later ceded, and released its advice in full.

However, that advice has now been rejected by ministers and the RDA has now been asked to think again about how it plans to dispose of its assets.

The plan advises ministers that 40 of the agencies 81 land and property assets should be either transferred to the relevant local authorities and held in a trust, with receipts from a sale following further development going to government, or transferred to councils on a deferred payment basisIt said that only 14 of the assets should be sold on the open market.

However, as first revealed in LGC, ministers have ruled these options out, favouring instead sale of the assets at market value in order to contribute towards paying off the deficit.

• In its plan the agency said the move to either hold the assets in a trust or transfer them on a deferred payment basis was the preferred route for half of the RDA’s assets because it meant the sites could remain in public sector control as there were developed further.
• It advised ministers that in this way “momentum of the regeneration scheme” would be maintained and “a higher financial value may be realised for the public purse in the long term”.
• The RDA also said that sale at market value would mean local authorities would most likely be unable to afford the assets, which would mean there would be “a lack of public control over a strategic site”.
• It added that market sale “may not achieve best price in current market conditions and that the government would “forgo future profit share in return for short term capital receipt”.
• The RDA also warned that a sell-off of the assets “would adversely affect the property market”.
• The RDA said: “Where assets and liabilities are still strategically important, it is the desire of Yorkshire Forward and partners to retain public control of these sites”.

The advice ministers have blocked:

Yorkshire Forward - 81 land & property assets valued at £90m

• 36 to be passed to LAs in a Trust
• 4 to be transferred to LAs on deferred payment basis
• 3 to be sold to LAs at market value
• 8 to be transferred to DCLG or DBIS
• 16 to be transferred to HCA (mainly coalfields sites)
• 14 to be sold on the open market

South East RDA - £108m in public assets

Intially SEEDA refused to provide any details of its advice to ministers. However, following an appeal by LGC, the agency revealed its advice in full. Read more here.

• In its plan SEEDA advised ministers that all but five of its 67 land and property assets should be packaged up and passed to the Solent LEP and the Kent, Essex & East Sussex LEP, with payment deferred.
• The agency said passing the assets to LEPs was most likely to realise the greatest value from the assets and the best way of realising their economic potential.
• However, SEEDA has now said it had been advised by DBIS and the Treasury that “deferred payment is not considered feasible and is impracticable in the time available” and will be revising its plan for the disposal of its assets.
• SEEDA warned against a quick sale of the assets as this would mean around £250m in investment from the agency would be “written off”.
• It added there was a “considerable danger” that sale in the short- to medium-term could “flood a sluggish market leading to reduced prices”.
• The agency added a sell-off would mean “local partners would see no benefits in terms of their economic objectives or increased local responsibilities”.

NWDA - £56.8m in public assets

Intially provided a heavily redacted plan, which omitted its specific advice for the “disposal” of each asset. But following an appeal by LGC, the agency provided its advice. For full coverage see here. And here.

• The agency advised ministers that its land and property assets should be rolled into a single portfolio and passed onto national housing quango the Homes & Communities Agency.
• said transferring or selling its assets to either local authorities or local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) was “not considered viable”; likewise, stated that transferring or selling the agency’s share in the property joint-venture Space Northwest, a public-private partnership with Aviva Investors, to either LEPs or councils was also “unviable”
• recommended that its 44 assets be divided into “two tiers” comprising 20 to be sold or transferred prior to the agency’s closure in March 2012 and 24 to be disposed of after the agency’s closure. It said “obvious routes” have been identified for disposal of the first 20 assets, of which eight are to be sold and 12 are to be transferred to the HCA, including four former coalfields sites.
• recommended of the remaining 24 sites, 18 should be held over the medium to long term after closure of the agency to ensure “best value” is achieved when they are sold. It said this category included the North Manchester Business Park and the Ancoats Urban Village regeneration site in Manchester and the Kingsway Business Park in Rochdale. However, the remaining sites in this category were redacted.
• recommended that a further eight sites would benefit from further investment, such as the provision of infrastructure or the demolition of obsolete buildings, in order to make them “viable for private sector development” and achieve their “overarching regeneration objectives”.
• But is said that the 24 assets to he held after closure should be passed onto either a “sub-national receiving body” or a “national residuary body” - not LEPs or councils. It recommended this should be the HCA.

East Midlands RDA - £18.5m in public assets

The agency initially provided a heavily redacted plan which omitted its specific advice for the “disposal” of each asset. After appeal by LGC, the agency revealed this advice. For full coverage see here. And here.

• recommended that of its 36 separate sites, only five should be put to open market sale including: two sites at Sherwood Energy Village development in Ollerton; the Abbey Meadows site in Leicester; the Rail Centre site at Pride Park, Derby; and the 10 Newark Street site in Nottingham. The agency advised ministers that:

- the Sherwood Energy Village sites should be sold on the open market prior to Emda’s closure; or transferred to Newark & Sherwood District Council

- the Abbey Meadows site should be sold to Leicester City Council in order to “preserve regeneration plans”. However, it said LCC, which wants to use the site as part of the development of a science park in the city, had requested a “nil value”. But Emda said this had been rejected and the agency was now offering it to the council as a market value sale.

- the Pride park site should be sold to Derby City Council to “retain regeneration potential”

- the Newark street site should be offered to Nottingham City Council, in order that the current tenant, a charity, can remain in place.

• the agency said 15 former coalfields sites should remain in public hands, with the whole portfolio transferred to the Homes & Communties Agency (HCA)
• recommended that three key strategic regeneration sites - the Bold Lane regeneration site in Derby; the Albany Works regeneration site in Nottingham; and a site in George Street, Corby - be passed onto the agency’s joint-venture property vehicle Blueprint, a public private partnership between EMDA, developer Igloo and the HCA. It said this was the preferred option as it would “honour the legal agreement” and would “retain the regeneration potential” of the sites. However, the agency said that if this option was not possible the “second preferred route” would be to “offer them to the relevant local authority as a preferred purchaser”. “This would be at market value as we are not able to offer sites below market value due to the rules of managing public money,” the agency said. The agency added that a third option would be to sell the assets on the open market and a fourth option would be to “transfer to [a] residual body pending uplift in market conditions before sale”.
• recommended that two further regeneration schemes for which the agency holds several assets - the Castleward scheme in Derby and the Trent Basin scheme in Nottingham - should continue, with the preferred option to sell the assets to Derby City Council and Nottingham City Council, respectively, so that the councils can manage the regenerations schemes. It said this option would “ensure that the regeneration strategy [is] safe guarded”.
• recommended a further six sites of “nil value” comprising four highways sites - to be passed to the Highways Agency - and two sites in Sherwood Park to be passed to a new management company.

One North East - £54.6m in public assets

Provided its advice in full. For full coverage see here.

• recommended that of the agency’s 48 land & building assets: 13 be transferred to relevant local authorities to ensure their further development before an eventual sale; and a further 15 sold directly to councils, with the key Science Central site in Newcastle be sold in a 50:50 split between Newcastle City Council and Newcastle University.
• said it expected the local authorities to prepare the sites for development and then sell them on for the best price “reasonably obtainable at that time” with receipts payable to DCLG or the HCA. But it added that the agency “will be seeking written agreement from DCLG/HCA that proceeds received by them under this solution will be utilised for the economic development and regeneration of the north east”.
• recommends that five assets be sold in part to local authorities and in part to the private sector, with four transferred to the HCA, including the Middlehaven development in Middlesbrough, and one handed to DBIS
• recommends that 10 assets be put on the open market.
• proposed that its two public-private property vehicles, valued at £130m, be transferred to the newly established North East Economic Partnership as there was a “strong commitment to retain the value of these partnerships in the region”.
• ONE chief executive Alan Clarke and chairman Paul Callaghan said it had been “extremely challenging” to produce the report in “less than six working weeks”. They added that in drafting the asset plan they had been instructed by ministers to “achieve value for money and meet the receipts targets set by government”.

Advantage West Midlands - £107m in public assets

Provided its advice in full. For full coverage see here.

• recommends that of its 38 land and buildings assets, 15 be retained by public sector bodies within the region - including the Longbridge regeneration site, with the remaining 23 earmarked for “market disposal” - of which 13, including the former BBC studios at Pebble Mill, are recommended for immediate sale, with 10 earmarked for sale in the “medium term”.
• recommends that PxP - the agency’s joint venture with developer Langtree Group and the Royal Bank of Scotland to bring forward commercial developments across 23 key development sites - be transferred to a “national body” such as the HCA, rather than sold or transferred to local authorities.
• states that of the agency’s 13 venture and loan capital funds for small businesses, 11 should be transferred to a new special purpose company based in the region, with two others that are focused on media businesses transferred to the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts.
• said it had been instructed by ministers to “create maximum long-term value for the economy and local areas”, while at the same time “maximising receipts” to DBIS and ensuring an “orderly and timely closure of the agency”.

South West RDA - £40m in public assets

Provided its advice in full.For full coverage see here.

• recommends that 34 of its 58 land and property assets be sold, with a further 21 rolled into four packages and transferred to councils in the south-west, including: the Gloucester Docks regeneration project; the next phase of the Temple Quay regeneration project in Bristol; the Royal William Yard waterfront development in Plymouth; and the Medical & Technology Park in Plymouth.
• said these “packages” comprised “concentrations of development assets and liabilities which are of strategic significance but which are at an earlier stage of development such that they would benefit from a further period in public sector control”. It added that the aim of transferring the assets to the councils was to “secure the original regeneration objectives before eventual disposal to the market”.
• recommends a further two sites, the Bristol and Bath Science Park and the Osprey Quay sailing site, should be passed to the HCA, while the Wave Hub project should be transferred to a new body.
• said it had been told by the DBIS to raise £20m in receipts through the sale of its assets ahead of its closure in March 2012.