The value of Bradford's urban regeneration scheme has been brought into question by a critical new report.

The report concludes that British cities which have received substantial levels of regeneration funding to bring them into line with the national average are falling further behind.

The study, by think-tank Policy Exchange, focused on a sample set of 18 "urban policy towns and cities", including Bradford.

The report points out that Bradford has received funding from seven of the eight sources of urban renewal funding available in the last decade, including the Single Regeneration Budget, Neighbourhood Renewal and Safer and Stronger Communities.

But it concludes that places most in need of change in 1997 are still waiting for the "promised renaissance that has not arrived".

The research team behind the report said the main indicator of regeneration was "gross value added" (GVA) - the contribution people are making to the economy, personal income and unemployment.

The report found that, in 1995, the average person's GVA in Bradford was £9,250, compared with a national average of £11,037. By 2004, the Bradford GVA per capita had risen to £13,180, but had still fallen further behind the UK average, which had risen to £17,451.

The research team also found that urban renewal towns were showing no signs of improvement in house prices, business start-ups, life expectancy, or educational attainment.

Despite this general trend, the report showed Bradford had narrowed the gap in the last ten years for the number of VAT registrations. In 1994, there were 28 VAT registrations in Bradford per 1,000 residents - eight below the national average. By 2005, registrations in Bradford had increased to 32 per person - five behind the national average.

In terms of house prices, Bradford fell further behind the national average despite prices in the city more than doubling from £44,710 in 1994 to £106,388 in 2005, based on figures from the Halifax.

Meanwhile, life expectancy for Bradfordians increased from 75.5 in 1994 to 77.5 in 2005, remaining just over a year below the national average.

Policy Exchange's chief economist, Dr Oliver Marc Hartwich, who commissioned the research, said: "While we should not give up on urban policy, much of the £30bn spent in the last decade appears to have had no effect."