Whitehall to cut red tape hindering inner-city aid

Initiatives for Britain's poorest areas are to be overhauled after criticism that Whitehall is stifling its own projects with red tape.

Barbara Roche, the minister for Social Exclusion, has announced changes to a raft of schemes to improve the education, health and policing of deprived inner cities.

Mrs Roche, unveiling the results of a year-long review of the programmes yesterday, said the number of "funding streams" would be halved and bureaucracy cut.

A plethora of projects for low-income areas has been devised by the Government since 1997, but both local groups and Conservative critics have argued that they are too complex and unco-ordinated.

More than £4bn is being invested through schemes such as SureStart, which helps under-fives and their parents, and the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund and New Deal for Communities, both of which regenerate run-down areas.

However, there are 40 different sources of funding available to deprived regions, each with its own regulations.