Home Office Home Office Good Practice Seminars
Community Engagement Seminar
Workshop 2
Community Participation in Neighbourhood Renewal
John Houghton from the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit did not attend the seminar and Margaret Geary, Home Office Regional Director, Government Office West Midlands stepped in at short notice to lead this workshop.
The discussion focused on the need to bridge gaps and raise standards, especially in high need neighbourhoods, not all concentrating on delivery. The key groups are resident-led New Deal for Communities, Neighbourhood Renewal Fund areas, Local Strategic Partnerships and the Voluntary sector.
Key points from the discussion
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Neighbourhood wardens, homeowners and other groups are willing to take on the scheme and work hard but money often runs out and the worker goes. One of the difficulties is being bound by central targets rather than engaging communities locally and trying to relate to real priorities.
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In one case, police funding for the community was reduced by 50% and it is very difficult to find the shortfall. There is a need to delegate funding to those closest to the problem/community to avoid central prescription of what is needed to deliver.
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In terms of funding, often a small amount of money can make a great impact. Ways need to be found to allow for this.
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There is an issue in the relationships and funding between New Deal for Communities and Neighbourhood Renewal - lessons need to be learned on how this works in practice.
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Some renewal projects are not inclusive of the community/Community Safety teams. In many cases Community Safety Partnerships are unable to pick this up centrally, needing more investment from stakeholders.
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Some necessary skills can be found within community groups, which could reduce the need for expensive consultants.
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Coordination is required to bring partners on board and make them into full stakeholders in renewal partnerships and there is a need to share practice amongst areas on specific problems experienced.
Links to renewal websites
www.renewal.net/lsp LSP Delivery Toolkit
www.neighbourhood.gov.uk/single_community.asp Community Empowerment Fund
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