Rt Hon John Prescott MP on Communities South East
14/04/08
Rt Hon John Prescott MP was Britain's longest serving Deputy Prime Minister and a key player in the Blair Government. Arguably Prescott's most significant achievement was to lead negotiations at Kyoto, resulting in the first international treaty on climate change. He is also recognised for his keen interest in regeneration, particularly in the housing sector. Having now left office, he continues to advise the Chinese on their plans to build a thousand new 'sustainable cities'.
BBC news broadcaster Chris Lowe questioned John Prescott as to whether he was happy with his achievements to date. 'And are we?' asked Chris, 'and is the Government, without John Prescott, keeping the peace?'
John Prescott opened by commenting on how far the government has come and how far it has to go. 'We inherited an 18-year system that had had faith in role of market forces - it had devastating consequences for us.'
'1.5 million homeowners had had their homes repossessed, 2.2 million social houses didn't meet the Decent Homes Standard. Communities were divided, we had record homelessness, cities with falling populations, under-investment in hospitals, and an increasing divide between the north and south.'
John Prescott was charged with creating the government's Urban Task Force, chaired by Lord Rogers, to find solutions to the problems of inner-city decline and development pressures on the countryside. 'We implemented 99 of Task Force's 106 recommendations.'
'Our first priority was to get the economy right, which gave us low interest rates, inflation and unemployment for the next decade. We established the regional development agencies alongside that.'
The statements were sweeping and victorious. 'Our second priority was £42 billion in public and private investment.' He admits it was controversial, 'but it brought in far more investment', says Prescott. 'We reduced non-decent homes and modernised existing stock before investing in building new homes. We tackled the causes of rough sleeping. We increased the proportion of social housing in new developments.'
'We put communities at the heart of decision-making, giving them the resources to tackle their problems. People took the responsibility and improved their areas - it was an important step forward for them to have their say.' And in 2002 the Government set up housing market renewal pathfinders.
Next came the government's Transport Ten Year Plan to tackle congestion and pollution by improving all types of transport - rail and road, public and private. 'We focused more on public transport and less on the new roads. We trebled the national health spend and we invested in schools - seven times more than when we came to office. We have now witnessed a renaissance in our cities.'
'These are the things we did - they are an essential part of the sustainability of our cities which are slowly going from strength to strength. These new growth areas - Thames Gateway, Ashford, Milton Keynes, the London/Cambridge corridor are working to provide over 650,000 new homes in London and the South East over the next ten years.'
Prescott stressed the need to build sustainable cities. He cited Greenwich Millennium Village, the new urban regeneration development to the south of the Dome. 'It's been built more efficiently and effectively with its own purpose-built ecology park, cycle paths and recreational areas. It is served by a modern transport system.'
'For me, sustainability is places that are active, inclusive, safe, well run, environmentally sensitive, well designed, well built, well connected, well served and fair for everyone.'
Prescott referred to the Academy for Sustainable Communities in Leeds (a national centre of excellence to improve the skills and knowledge to deliver and maintain sustainable communities), the recent Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution and the Stern Report, which looked at the economic and financial issues of climate change. 'And so urban development will now be influenced by how successful we are in national policy and global agreements.'
Prescott was appointed by Tony Blair and Prime Minister Wen from China as Joint Chair of the China Task Force, looking at the early issues of climate change. 'This is already being put into action by Arup in Dongtan Eco-city on Chongming Island, Shanghai and also in the Thames Gateway.' He believes they could lead the way.
He is excited that sustainable cities are being taken forward since Gordon Brown came to office. 'The Government has committed to building ten eco-towns by 2010. Sustainable communities represent a step change - they are the future. And we could lead the way.'
Read other session reviews from the 2008 CIH South East conference