Thames Gateway plan needs a single leader, Mayor told
Boris Johnson came under pressure to appoint a "legacy czar" for the £9billion Thames Gateway development today or risk losing crucial investment.
Business groups called on the Mayor to set up a "one-stop shop" for potential investors - replacing the complex array of agencies currently involved.
They have repeatedly urged ministers not to miss the opportunity to make real progress on the regeneration project.
The Government is overseeing more than 60 taxpayer-funded agencies and organisations in connection with the scheme, often with overlapping responsibilities, and has just set up one more - the Homes and Communities Agency.
But Baroness Valentine, chief executive of business group London First, said the bodies were "falling over each other" rather than kick-starting regeneration in the area.
She said: "We need fewer well meant partnerships and more prospective deals with investors. [We need] strong leadership from Boris, who should appoint a legacy champion to own the vision, herd local, regional and national government cats and sell the opportunity to international investors - there are plenty still ready to spend in this difficult time."
Eamonn Boylan, deputy chief of the HCA which is now responsible for housing and regeneration in the region, has acknowledged the concerns.
He pledged to carry out a "stocktake" of the bodies in charge, as well as the financing and delivery of the biggest development of its kind in Europe.
"There has to be a structural review - I think we have to be clear we've done the thinking about what are complex structures. We have to be sure they're not impeding delivery," he said.
The regeneration scheme promised up to 225,000 jobs and 160,000 homes in a 40-mile corridor along the estuary from Docklands to Southend and Lewisham to the Isle of Sheppey.
Its complicated management structure requires scores of different organisations to work together in "management layers" and "funding streams".
The Mayor's office said that Mr Johnson hoped to provide better leadership when he took over as chair of the HCA's London board next month.
A spokesman said: "The Mayor will begin his chairmanship of the HCA London Board and will ... explore ways of creating greater clarity of leadership in the London Thames Gateway." Nationally, the Tories have promised to examine what the project has achieved so far, the reliability of population data, and the lack of governance.
Shadow minister for the Gateway, Stewart Jackson, said: "We must simplify the complex funding streams, which are confusing. At present, more than 100 organisations have some involvement in the project and more than 60 dispense public money.
"The confusion runs a real risk of undermining the long-term capacity of the Thames Gateway if people are bogged down with bureaucracy." However, the Department for Communities said the HCA would provide better leadership and insisted "good progress" had been made since it launched its delivery plan a year ago.
A spokesman said: "The Gateway is well placed to weather the economic difficulties and we remain committed to our ambition to regenerate the area."
