11 April 2007
A £20 billion investment in revitalising cities is reaping benefits across the country, Tony Blair has said.
Healthy partnerships between the private and public sectors have helped create a “spectacular renaissance”, the PM told a business audience in Wales.
The benefits were now being seen in Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, Derby and elsewhere, Mr Blair said, adding:
“The redevelopments of the past decade are all partnerships across the traditional boundaries. National leadership is needed, often with the stimulus of public regeneration projects.
“Then private enterprise joins in, to create jobs and make places work, underpinned by strong local leaders, with a durable commitment to seeing a place come to life.”
He credited investment schemes such as New Deal for Communities with providing the financial stimulus for renewal.
The PM, delivering a lecture to the Cardiff Chamber of Commerce, said one aspect missing from the regeneration was better behaviour from a minority who commit crime or indulge in anti-social behaviour.
Measures were needed to bring these people “back into the fold”, he added.
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