The Government is committed to a target of 20,000 new homes in the Gateway by 2016. It is planned that some 194,000 new jobs will also be created in that same period. But if this challenging target is to be reached – and if the existing population is to benefit from these opportunities – there will need to be a quantum leap in aspiration and educational achievement right across the Gateway.

Thames Gateway Kent stretches from Sheppey and Sittingbourne in the East to Dartford in the West. In the period up to 2021 it is planned:
• to build up to 50,000 new homes in the area
• to accommodate population growth of over 100,000
• to create some 84,000 new employment opportunities
• to provide some 2.5 million square metres of additional floor space for business

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) is the national Government department with principal responsibility for driving through this regeneration programme. In North Kent the ODPM operates through:
• the Thames Gateway Kent Partnership
• the Kent Thameside Delivery Board – covering Dartford and Gravesham.
• the Medway Renaissance Partnership – for the area covered by the Medway Unitary Authority
• Swale Forward – for Sittingbourne and Sheppey

The Gateway Knowledge Alliance – with top-level representation from all the major learning providers as well as the LSC and SEEDA – works closely with the Thames Gateway Kent Partnership and the three Delivery Boards to co-ordinate the learning and skills agenda with the regeneration agenda.