Crime & Communities
Together We Can Action plan to bring communities and government closer together
A new action plan to bring Government agencies and the public closer has been published on 28 June 2005 as part of a drive to empower local communities and improve quality of life. The Together We Can plan sets out the Government's commitment to citizens, communities and public bodies working together to set and achieve common goals. It outlines eight key policy areas - including safety, justice and regeneration - to be carried out by twelve Government Departments to strengthen citizens' engagement in delivering success across those policies. The 65 action points in the plan represent the start of this work.
Title: Together We Can action plan
Authors: Home Office working with 11 other Government departments
Number of pages: 27 (summary) & 45 (65 point plan - appendix)
Date published: June 2005
Availability: Download summary 
PDF 1.2Mb, Download 65-point plan (appendix) PDF 336Kb
Together We Can
Together We Can is:
an ethos of government and citizens working closely together to make a difference to their communities.
about listening to local people and working in partnership and bringing government and people closer together.
The 65-point action plan embraced by twelve Government Departments is the first step towards a significant shift in the way public bodies relate to local communities.
Scope
Together We Can covers the following areas:
Citizens
Democracy
Regeneration
Cohesion
Safety
Justice
Health
Sustainability
65-point plan
The 65-point plan goes into detail of the Government's intentions for Together We Can and how progress will be measures. Some of the key points for crime reduction practitioners include:
Desired outcome
Communities are safer and feel safer because the police, CDRP/DAATs, and other local partners work together to involve local people effectively in addressing their concerns about crime, drugs and anti-social behaviour.What will be done
Provide a citizen focused police service which responds to the needs of communities and individuals and inspires public confidence in the police, supported by the roll out of neighbourhood policing so that by 2008 every area in England and Wales will benefit from dedicated, visible, accessible and responsive neighbourhood policing teams.Identify and improve effective practice in CDRP community engagement by:
Providing in partnership with the Government Office Network good practice seminars to capture and disseminate CDRP community engagement methods.
Identifying and developing recommendations in respect of good practice examples of CDRP community engagement through the research project commissioned from the Thames Valley Partnership and National Community Safety Network
Developing a range of measures for improving the overall effectiveness of CDRPs, including their approach to community engagement
Support the development of Neighbourhood Watch in co-operation with ACPO, NACVS and other partners, including the promotion of model policies and service level agreements between the police, CDRPs and Neighbourhood Watch through the new National Forum organisation for the Watch movement
Promote the messages of the anti-social behaviour (ASB) Together campaign that public agencies must respond to communities’ concerns about ASB and that communities themselves have responsibility to tackle it, building on lessons learnt in the 10 Together Trailblazers and 50 Together Action Areas about involving neighbourhoods in making a difference; and promoting the third year of the Home Office Taking a Stand awards
Ensure community engagement underpins the development of the Gun Crime Connected Fund’s support for selected neighbourhoods, and the delivery of a crack house campaign ‘Operation Crackdown’ and associated enforcement action against Class A drugs and gun crime
Develop the Drugs Strategy Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) Forum, with the objective of strengthening the input of the voluntary and community sectors to the Drugs Strategy; a particular focus of the forum will be ensuring that small community and user groups have a voice in the Strategy
Develop targeted Neighbourhood Prevention Programmes to prevent youth crime and antisocial behaviour (particularly first time entrants to the youth justice system) involving communities, families, victims and young people in their design and management.
Last update: Thursday, August 28, 2008