English Partnerships (EP) was the national

regeneration Regeneration may refer to: Science and technology * Regeneration (biology), the ability to recreate lost or damaged cells, tissues, organs and limbs * Regeneration (ecology), the ability of ecosystems to regenerate biomass, using photosynthesis ...

agency for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, performing a similar role on a national level to that fulfilled by regional development agencies on a

regional In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

level. On 1 December 2008 its powers passed to a successor body, the new

Homes and Communities Agency Homes England is the non-departmental public body that funds new affordable housing in England. It was founded on 1 January 2018 to replace the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA). HCA in turn was established by the Housing and Regeneration Act 2 ...

. It was responsible for land acquisition and assembly and major development projects, alone or in joint partnership with private sector developers. It was particularly active in major regeneration areas such as the

Thames Gateway Thames Gateway is a term applied to an area around the Thames Estuary in the context of discourse around regeneration and further urbanisation. The term was first coined by the UK government and applies to an area of land stretching east from ...

and in expansion areas such as

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...

, where the

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president ...

(acting as Environment Minister) removed planning from local control and appointed them as the statutory planning authority. It was a

non-departmental public body In the United Kingdom, non-departmental public body (NDPB) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to public sector organisations that have a role in the process of n ...

funded through the

Department for Communities and Local Government The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), formerly the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for housing, communities, local government ...

(CLG), and was previously by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (the predecessor department to CLG).

Structure

English Partnerships was legally two entirely independent bodies set up under separate statutes. One was the Commission for New Towns, launched in October 1961, which was responsible for the

development corporation Development corporations or development firms are organizations established by governments in several countries for the purpose of urban development. They often are responsible for the development of new suburban areas or the redevelopment of exi ...

s established by the New Towns Act 1959. The other was the Urban Regeneration Agency set up by the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993. The URA originated as the English Industrial Estates Corporation, which was "established in 1936 as North Eastern Trading Estates Ltd to help to alleviate the problems caused by the decline of heavy industries such as shipbuilding and coalmining"Ibid Tyne and Wear Archives

Successor

On 17 January 2007

Ruth Kelly Ruth Maria Kelly (born 9 May 1968) is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bolton West from 1997 until she stood down in 2010. Previously, she served as the Secretary of State for Transport, ...

, the

Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government The secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities, also referred to as the levelling up secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the overall leadership and strategic direction o ...

, announced proposals to bring together the delivery functions of the

Housing Corporation The Housing Corporation was the non-departmental public body that funded new affordable housing and regulated housing associations in England. It was established by the Housing Act 1964. On 1 December 2008, its functions were transferred to two n ...

, English Partnerships and parts of CLG to form a new unified housing and regeneration agency, the

(initially announced as "Communities England"); this became operational on 1 December 2008.

References

External links

Official website archived at National ArchivesHomes and Communities Agency
on CLG website
Catalogue of the Whitley Council for New Towns Staff archives
held at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick Housing in England Defunct public bodies of the United Kingdom Defunct organisations based in England {{England-org-stub

Structure

Successor

See also

References

External links