East of England

Introduction

The East of England was created in 1994 and includes the counties of Essex, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.

The Greater Watford area is home to Camelot Group owners of the National Lottery and is the UK headquarters of international firm Total Oil and retailers TK Maxx and Costco. In Elstree and Borehamwood in Hertfordshire are the Elstree Studios where the Star Wars films were made and more recently Big Brother. Moto Hospitality have their headquarters are Toddington in Bedfordshire (at the service station), and easyJet and InBev are located in Luton, while its neighbour in Dunstable is home to Whitbread.

The economy in Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Suffolk is traditionally mostly agricultural, but they are also home to several nationally known companies including Bernard Matthews and Norwich Union in Norwich and Greene King in Bury St Edmunds. Newmarket is also located in the East of England, and is famous for it's horse racing.

Recent Visits

• 28/04/08 - Rosie Winterton (DfT) : Visited Watford to see TravelSmart Operation 
• 12/05/08 - Barbara Follett (Regional Minister) : Attended Sustainable Development Launch
• 14/05/08 - John Healey (CLG) : Spoke at Stevenage Business Breakfast on SNR & Economic Development 
• 14/05/08 - Baroness Andrews (CLG) : Visited Silkin’s Fields, Stevenage
• 19/05/08 - Barbara Follett (Regional Minister) & Pat McFadden (BERR) : Attended event with EEDA and Local Authority Leaders to discuss SNR and the region's ambition
• 09/06/08 - Barbara Follett (RM) : Visited Suffolk to see coastal issues including climate change adaptation and mitigation 
• 23/06/08 - Barbara Follett (RM) : Spoke at Care Services Improvement Partnership East of England event, Newmarket 
• 07/07/08 - Phil Woolas (Defra) : Visited North Norfolk coast and Great Yarmouth 
• 21/07/08 - Barbara Follett (RM) : Visited Perkins Engines in Peterborough and opened learning centre 
• 06-07/08/08 - Baroness Andrews (CLG) : Visited regeneration and cultural projects in Suffolk and Norfolk 
• 13/08/08 - Baroness Andrews (CLG) : Visited Papworth Trust, Huntingdon
• 28/08/08 - Barbara Follett (RM) and Angela Eagle (HMT) : Launch of Regional Economic Statement 

Demographics for the East of England

Mid-2006 Population Estimates

Regional Minister for the East of England: Barbara Follett MP

Children and Learners

• Over £32m has been allocated to school renovation projects in Cambridge between 2001/02 and 2005/06, including £7.8m to provide The Castle, a new area special school in Cambridge, as part of a programme to rationalise special school provision from four schools to two larger schools.
• £20m has been allocated for the reorganisation of schools in the Central Area of Norwich between 2005/06 to 2007/08.
• £5m was allocated for a new 315 place primary school in Dussindale, Thorpe St Andrew, Norwich.
• £7.5m was allocated to bring a current split site high school onto one site at Blyth Jex High School, Norwich.

Health and Well Being

• A £300m Private Finance Initiative (PFI) project to build three new health facilities for local trusts is being managed by the Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Trust. This will include a £135m scheme centralising acute services from Peterborough District Hospital to the Edith Cavell Hospital, creating a new ‘super hospital’ as well as expanding the services available. There will also be a new mental health unit and integrated care centre. The successful consortium, Progress Health, was announced in March 2005.

Crime

• Harlow, Ipswich, Norwich and Southend-on-Sea have been named as four of the 40 priority Respect Action Areas in England, for being Councils who have strong records in tackling anti-social behaviour. The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) is also backing the scheme with £6m of funding in 2007/08 for parenting classes in the 40 areas.
• Over £7.6m was allocated to the region for 2006/07 under the Building Safer Communities Fund to help local communities in the fight against drugs and crime. In two-tier areas, this funding is incorporated into the Safer Stronger Communities block of the Local Area Agreement, and is used to deliver outcomes relating to the block.
• Funding totalling £1.2m has been allocated to the region in 2006/07 to support work to tackle Anti-Social Behaviour, with each partnership receiving £25,000. Partnerships are utilising their allocation to fund ASB co-ordinators or support staff, and to undertake various initiatives to tackle ASB within their communities. In two-tier areas, this funding is incorporated into the Safer Stronger Communities block of the Local Area Agreement.
• Over £3.5m was allocated to Police Basic Command Units (BCU) across the region in 2005/06 under the Home Office BCU Fund to help reduce crime and disorder levels, and promote partnership working. Examples include targeted operations to reduce burglary, vehicle crime and class A drug offences focussing activity on local prolific offenders.
• The East of England Home Office Director received over £1m in 2006/07 for the East of England Community Safety Fund, aimed at developing problem solving approaches to crime and disorder issues affecting communities. Funding is being utilised to support a variety of work including the co-ordination of Domestic Violence work across the region, and the provision of various training events for practitioners and community groups.
• Over £5.2m has been allocated across the region in 2006/07 to develop the Drug Interventions Programme (DIP). The programme offers treatment and support to the most prolific drug-misusing offenders with the aim of breaking the cycle of drugs, crime and prison.
• Over £895,000 has been allocated across the region in 2006/07 under the Drug Strategy Partnership Support Grant. The funding is intended to provide partnerships with the capacity to deliver the National Drug Strategy including training and research requirements, and to tackle drug supply and drug-related crime and build community resilience to drugs. In two-tier areas, this funding is incorporated into the Safer Stronger Communities block of the Local Area Agreement.

Transport

• £65m Local Transport Plan funding has been allocated to the region for 2006/07 for integrated transport and over £97m for maintenance.
• Included in Peterborough’s maintenance allocation for 2006/07 are supplementary bids for phase 2 of the Parkway Bridge Parapets scheme at £1.42m and the A1139 Nene Bridge at £440,000.
• Local Transport Funding of £12.621m has been approved for the South Lowestoft Relief Road in 2006/07.
• Full approval was given in autumn 2005 for the A1198 Papworth Bypass. Construction started in April 2006. Funding of £4.110m has been awarded for this scheme in 2006/07.
• Provisional approval has been given to the Luton to Dunstable Translink scheme. A final decision from the Secretary of State is awaited and will have regard to the advice from the East of England Regional Assembly (E-E-R-A) that the scheme should be a priority for funding beginning financial year 2006-2007.
• The decision has been made to approve a Transport and Works Act (TWA) Order applied for by Cambridgeshire County Council to build the Cambridge to Huntingdon Guided Bus. This Order gives the Council the legal powers they require to build a new 19km guided busway. The scheme is expected to carry over 40,000 passengers daily, improve public transport journey times between Huntingdon and Cambridge and relieve the congested A14 trunk road between the A1 and the M11.
• Included in Essex’s maintenance allocation for 2006/07 is a supplementary bid for funding of maintenance to the A130 Baddow Bypass bridges at £900,000.
• Norfolk will receive £5,390,400 of Government funding for work on de-trunked sections of the A10, A134 and A140. This supplementary bid is in addition to Norfolk’s 2006/07 maintenance allocation.
• Southend has been allocated £1.5m of major scheme funding in 2006/07 to enable the authority to complete their Travel Centre, currently under construction.
• Thurrock’s supplementary bid for A13 Stanford le Hope to Five Bells Intersection, (£1.850m), has been accepted for 2006/07.

Social Inclusion and Regeneration

• £259,000 of regional funding has been awarded from former DfES for the Community Champions scheme 2004/05. The scheme aims to help support and develop the work of local people in changing their communities. Projects include: an anti-racism project for young people, the creation of a disabled equipment database and a community festival to promote social cohesion.
• The Flagship Centre in Tilbury, Essex, one of the Region’s 24 Sure Start programmes, offers services and activities for children and their families. This includes activity rooms, an outside play area and a community cafe. On average the centre’s programme is reaching 44% of the 878 children in the Sure Start area it covers each month. ‘Flagship’ has now become a designated children’s centre.
• The children’s centres in St. Albans and Tilbury are providing integrated services for young children and their families including childcare, early education, family and health services, training and employment advice.
• Over £13.5m of Children’s Fund funding has been allocated to the East of England for 2005/06 so that 5-13 year olds at risk of social exclusion are identified early and preventative services can be developed. A further £21.7m has been allocated for 2006-08.

European Funding

• Over £15m of Objective 3 funding has been allocated to the ten Co-Financing Organisations within the region contracted to deliver a wide range of activities in line with the Regional Development Plan (RDP). Co-financing was introduced nationally to ensure greater coherence and a better strategic fit between the needs detailed within the plan and activities and provision to support the RDP
• Nearly £3m has been awarded to encourage the creation and improve the survival rate of new enterprises in Luton, including innovative examples and those employing people from disadvantaged groups.
• Nearly £1.7m has been awarded for the University of Luton's Languages for e-business. These projects aim to enhance adaptability and entrepreneurship into new export markets, meet learning targets and update skills to enable firms to compete globally
• Over £920,000 has been allocated to widen participation in lifelong learning by 600 employees of 400 Small-Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs). To improve employability and skills, focussing upon international marketing, communication and strategies for new markets worldwide.
• A grant total of £310m has been allocated to the East of England under the European Union’s Objective 2 programme. This is for economic regeneration needs, in specific areas of the region.
• £8.42m of Objective 2 European Social Funding has been awarded to 41 projects.
• A further 22 European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Objective 2 projects were undertaken in 2005.

European Community Initiatives include:

• URBAN II initiative totalling £6.7m European Regional Development Funds.
• LEADER+ support totalling over £3m between the Broads and Rivers scheme and the Fenlands LeAP scheme.

Key European Structural Fund (ESF) projects in the East of England. Including:

• Over £4.6m for the Breckland’s Community Economic Regeneration package.
• £4.7m for Great Yarmouth's InteGREAT project.
• £2.3m for Lowestoft's Offshore Renewable Energy Centre.
• £4.7m for Lowestoft's Town Centre Seafront Regeneration Scheme.
• £2.2m for Luton’s National Centre for Carnival Arts.
• Over £7.5m for Southend Seafront, High Street and Pier enhancement.
• £3.5m for Southend’s Business Innovation Incubator Centre project.