Shapps welcomes publication of Kickstart assessments
Housing Minister Grant Shapps today welcomed publication of key design assessments of the Kickstart housebuilding programme, describing their…
Housing Minister Grant Shapps today welcomed publication of key design assessments of the Kickstart housebuilding programme, describing their release as a necessary step in opening up Government records to the public.
Following a request from the Information Commissioner, the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) is publishing Building for Life Assessments for Round 1 and Round 2 Kickstart projects - given the green light between September 2009 and July 2010. The assessments were carried out by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) on behalf of the HCA. Earlier this year there was controversy over the decision not to make these scores public.
The Kickstart programme was designed to help get stalled developments back on track during the recession.
Grant Shapps said:
We are transforming Government at all levels by opening up our records to the public. Openness may be uncomfortable for some but we know that proper public scrutiny will lead to far better decisions - and save money as well.
So I welcome that this important element of assessment of Kickstart housing projects is now finally publicly available. This is the right thing to do and something I strongly agree with. Government needs to lead by example so this is a necessary step in opening up all public records.
Notes to editors
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The Kickstart Programme was run by the Homes and Communities Agency, and offered Government funding to get work restarted on housing developments stalled by the economic downturn. As part of this, CABE were commissioned to assess the design of projects awarded Kickstart funding against their Building for Life standard. Details of the Building for Life standard can be found at: http://www.buildingforlife.org/about (external link).
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The Building for Life scores are part of a wider report published today by the Homes and Communities Agency on the lessons learnt from the Kickstart housing delivery programme. A copy of the Kickstart review of Round 2 and a full list of the Building for Life Assessments is available at: http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk (external link).
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A review of Round 1 Kickstart schemes was published by the HCA on 16 December 2009 and can be found at: http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/public/documents/Kickstart_Round _1_Review.pdf (PDF, 76 KB, external link).
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