Editing English Partnerships

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'''English Partnerships''' ('''EP''') was the national [[urban renewal|regeneration]] agency for [[England]], performing a similar role on a national level to that fulfilled by [[regional development agency|regional development agencies]] on a [[regions of England|regional]] level.  On 1 December 2008 its powers passed to a successor body, the new [[Homes and Communities Agency]].

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]] and in [[Expansion plans for Milton Keynes|expansion areas]] such as [[Milton Keynes]], where the [[Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Deputy Prime Minister]] (acting as Environment Minister) removed planning from local control and appointed them as the statutory planning authority.

It was a [[non-departmental public body]] funded through the [[Department for Communities and 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]]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"<ref>Ibid Tyne and Wear Archives</ref>

==Successor==
On 17 January 2007 [[Ruth Kelly]], the [[Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government]], announced proposals to bring together the delivery functions of the [[Housing Corporation]], English Partnerships and parts of CLG to form a new unified housing and regeneration agency, the [[Homes and Communities Agency]] (initially announced as "Communities England"); this became operational on 1 December 2008.

==See also==
*[[Millennium Communities Programme]], EP initiative
*[[EcoHomes]]
*[[Neil Shields]], Chairman of the Commission for New Towns 1982–1995

==References==
{{Ibid|date=April 2022}}
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*[http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100911035042/http://englishpartnerships.co.uk Official website archived at National Archives]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20081205061928/http://www.communities.gov.uk/housing/strategiesandreviews/homesandcommunities/ Homes and Communities Agency] on CLG website
*[https://mrc.epexio.com/records/WNT Catalogue of the Whitley Council for New Towns Staff archives], held at the [[Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick]]

[[Category:Housing in England]]
[[Category:Defunct public bodies of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Defunct organisations based in England]]


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