NEWS: New £10 million fund announced to support Neighbourhood Planning

DCLG announced yesterday a new £10 million fund to support communities develop Neighbourhood Plans.  It appears tht the Department has increased the level of funding available for each community from £20k to £30k.  For further information go to http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/newsr
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NEWS: GDP growth figures revised again

ONS releases revised Q2 GDP results.  The revised release again shows that the original figures were off the mark. Aren’t the original figures too important for this to consistently be the case?  For a fuller breakdown go to http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/naa2/second-estimate-of-
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NEWS: Big Lottery Village SOS Fund

The deadline for the Big Lottery Village SOS Fund of 12th September is fast approaching.  Bids from community groups in villages with a population under 3000 for funding of between £10k and £15k are invited.  This is a rare and significant fund that can support social and economic dev
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NEWS: Eric Pickles outlines plans to kick start stalled development

Pickles has outlined plans for expert planning brokers to help local authorities renegotiate s106 agreements on stalled sites. The following excerpt has been taken from the DCLG press release regarding this new scheme, to read the full article please follow this link. Expert brokers w
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NEWS: Northamptonshire Regional Growth Fund bid short-listed

Northamptonshire Enterprise Partnership received confirmation from BIS that the RGF 3 bid in relation to the high performance technology sector has been selected to proceed to the next stage.  A final announcement about the successful applications will be made later in the Autumn.  Fo
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ARTICLE: Portas, pop-ups and popular town centres

Ross Ingham explores whether it is inequitable that so much effort and publicity was generated by the £2m Mary Portas Pilots, while the larger High Street Innovation Fund was quietly and uncompetitively awarded without any fanfare? To read the full article please follow this link or d
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NEWS: Regional Growth Fund round three: High Performance Technology sector

Working with the Northamptonshire Enterprise Partnership and a group of leading entrepreneurs from across the sector, we prepared a round three programme application for the Government’s Regional Growth Fund.  The county and its surrounds have a significant array of leading companies
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ARTICLE: Portas Premium

Ross Ingham examines the benefits of taking part in the Portas Pilot bid. It’s not just the 12 successful English high streets that will benefit from the funding bids following the Mary Portas Review. Both the winners and losers will gain from the momentum created by the process. To s
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ARTICLE: Recovery position

Ross Ingham explores the new infrastructure fund: The Chancellor’s promise of a £25bn infrastructure fund has added to the range of initiatives now available to aid urban regeneration. Our economic future relies on these being successfully deployed. To read the full article please cli
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ARTICLE: Grow your own business rate income

Ross Ingham explores business rate income in Public Finance: Current proposals to relocalise business rates will create a direct link between economic performance and additional revenue for local authorities. So how can they maximise the opportunities? To read the full article please
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