HCA takes control of Yorkshire Forward assets

ASSETS owned by disappearing regional development agency Yorkshire Forward are to be transferred to housing and regeneration quango the Homes and Communities Agency, the Government has announced.

The Government has refused to hand control of million pounds of assets to council or local enterprise partnership control.

Although the HCA will own the assets and liabilities, however, local authorities will still be able to be involved in decisions about their future development plans under a ‘stewardship’ model.

The transfer of assets is planned to take effect on September 19.

Under a similar but separate arrangement, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will contract the HCA to manage the Advanced Manufacturing Park at Rotherham which has been identified as an asset of national importance by the Government.

Yorkshire Forward put the value of its assets at the end of its last financial year at £220.11m. Ministers gave the green light to the sale of Yorkshire Forward assets thought to be worth around £15m in April.

These included Capitol Park in Goole and land at Ackton, near Pontefract.

Announcing the transfer of the RDA assets, business and enterprise minister Mark Prisk said: “The transfer of RDA land and property assets to the Homes and Communities Agency underlines our commitment to making sure these assets are used to support economic growth and regeneration.

“Through local enterprise partnerships, the Regional Growth Fund and Enterprise Zones, we are putting in place an efficient and locally driven model of regional economic development that ensures government support goes to where it can have most impact.”

Under the transfer, the land and property assets will see representatives from business, local enterprise partnerships, local authorities and others provide advice to the HCA on the future of schemes.

Details of the individual assets to be included in this transfer will be announced later.