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Neighbourhood Renewal
INTRODUCTION
AND CONTEXT
GOVERNMENT POLICY
INITIATIVES
·
urban and rural renaissance
·
roll-back neighbourhood deprivation
·
reduce poverty
·
raise educational standards
·
improve health equality
·
reduce crime and order
·
improve housing conditions
·
create a culture of life-long learning
·
promote e-society
·
reduce unemployment
·
develop a highly skilled workforce
·
improve transport
·
tackle discrimination and racism
·
promote cultural diversity and community cohesion
KEY UNDERSTANDINGS
·
Renewal must be people and community centred
·
No-short-term fixes.
·
Join-up planning and delivery across discrete policy areas through
partnership.
·
No two places are the same. Communities have different needs,
different strengths and different aspirations.
·
No ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach; strategies must be tailored to each
area and its people.
·
People have right to be involved in deciding how their town or city
develops.
·
Real, sustainable change will not be achieved unless local people
are in driving seat right from the start.
·
Everybody should be included. Exclusion closes benefit of their
contribution.
·
Past Government policies and delivery of services contributed to
continuing disadvantage and decline of many neighbourhoods into
disadvantage.
CHALLENGES
How to:
·
map how everything links together
·
identify the challenges to the way they work
·
decide how they can make a positive contribution
·
re-think how their role fits in with those of others
·
re-think the way they spend their budgets
·
their staff and ruling committee members to be open to new ways of
working and thinking
GOVERNMENT POLICY DELIVERY REFORMS
·
Elected mayors or cabinets of leading Councillors
·
Community Strategies
·
Local Strategic Partnerships
·
Enhanced role of Government Offices
·
Regional Development Agencies - economic regeneration
·
Learning & Skills Councils - post-16 education and training
·
NHS reforms e.g. Primary Care Trusts
·
Public Service Agreements and targets
·
Devolving power to Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales
·
Enhancing role of Regional Assemblies (derailed)
·
Community cohesion
·
Local Area Agreements
URBAN WHITE PAPER
·
Links physical/environmental & social/economic elements to attempt
successful regeneration.
·
Framework for action.
·
Shows how Government initiatives fit together.
·
Urban Summit February 2005
Vision
·
Urban areas offer high quality of life and opportunity for all.
·
People shape future of community, supported by strong and truly
representative local leaders.
·
People live in attractive, well kept towns and cities which use
space and buildings well.
·
Good design and planning reduce noise, pollution and traffic
congestion.
·
owns and cites create/share prosperity, investing to help all
citizens reach full potential.
·
Good quality services meet needs of people and businesses.
COMMUNITY STRATEGIES
·
Aim to improve economic and social and environmental well-being of
area.
·
Outline vision for regeneration and improvement of quality of life
of area.
·
Provide integrated approach to sustainable economic, social and
physical development
·
Proper assessment of needs and availability of resources
·
Allow local communities to articulate their aspirations, needs and
priorities; consultation
·
Co-ordinate, focus and shaping actions of Council and public,
voluntary and community and private sector organisations to meet
community needs and aspirations
·
Action plan identifying short-term priorities and activities
contributing to achievement of long-term outcomes
·
Arrangements for monitoring action plan implementation
·
Periodic review of community strategy & report progress to local
people
NEIGHBOURHOOD RENEWAL STRATEGY
·
To reverse poverty and disadvantage of hundreds of neighbourhoods in
England
·
‘A New Commitment to Neighbourhood Renewal. National Strategy Action
Plan’ (January 2001) - developed by Social Exclusion Unit
Key
barriers
to achieving real change:
·
failure to address problems of local economies
·
failure to promote safe and stable communities
·
poor core public services, such as health, education, etc
·
failure to involve communities
·
lack of leadership and joint working
·
insufficient information and poor use of it
Most disadvantaged neighbourhoods:
·
have more than two in five people drawing means-tested benefits,
three-quarters of young people failing to get 5 good GSCEs, homes
which are empty or hard to fill, high crime and unemployment rates
·
are in all parts of the country, north and south, rural and urban,
inner-city and edge of cities, and across all housing tenures.
Long-term goals:
·
In all poorest neighbourhoods, to have common goals of lower
worklessness and crime, and better health, skills, housing and
physical environment.
·
To narrow gap between most deprived neighbourhoods and rest of
country.
·
10-20 years to achieve these goals.
Key Approaches:
·
Attack core problems of deprived areas, like weak economies and poor
schools.
·
Harness power of all sectors to work in partnership.
·
Focus existing services and resources explicitly on deprived areas.
·
Give local residents and community groups central role in turning
their neighbourhoods around.
·
Tackle deprivation and social inclusion through ‘bending’ main
Departmental programmes including those of the police and health
services, to focus on the most deprived areas.
·
Make better use of existing budgets more appropriately targeted and
delivered.
The 88 Areas
·
88 urban and rural local authority areas were designated as priority
areas for receiving Neighbourhood Renewal, Community Empowerment and
Community Chest Funds.
·
Not the 88 most deprived.
·
Mechanisms to join up locally and empower communities: Community
Strategies, Local Strategic Partnerships, Neighbourhood Management,
and the special funds.
·
Mechanisms for national and regional support, inc. Neighbourhood
Renewal Unit, Neighbourhood Renewal Teams in the Regional Government
Offices
PUBLIC SERVICE FLOOR
TARGETS
·
To help reduce the gap between the poorest areas and the rest of the
country.
·
Indicate what the priorities should be at local level.
·
Make sure that where public services are failing, they get better
·
Government Departments have these through Public Service Agreements
(PSA)
Original Public Service floor targets:
·
Education. Increase the % of pupils obtaining five+ GCSEs at trades
A* to C (or equivalent)
·
Employment. Increase employment rates.
·
Crime. Reduce the level of crime.
·
Health. Reduce the life expectancy gap.
·
Housing: Improve the quality of social housing.
Revised and new targets:
1.
Reducing smoking: to 21% or less; to 26% or less for manual groups
(by 2010)
2.
Reducing early deaths from cancer (6% closing the gap), heart
disease and strokes (40% closing the gap) (by 2010)
3.
Reducing under-18 pregnancy rate by 50% (by 2010)
4.
Reduce the proportion of young people not in education, employment
and training by 2% through focus of lowest attaining pupils (by
2010)
5.
Child development
6.
Achieving better results in high crime areas (reduction by 15%+ by
2007-8)
7.
Increase employment rates for lone parents, ethnic minorities,
people aged 50+, those with lowest qualifications and those living
in local authority wards with the poorest labour market position (by
spring 2008)
8.
Significantly reduce the difference between the employment rates of
disadvantaged groups and the overall rate (by spring 2008)
9.
Bring all social housing into a decent condition with most
improvement in deprived areas, and for vulnerable households in the
private sector
10.
Liveability - making public spaces cleaner, safer and greener and
improvement of the built environment in deprived areas (measurable
by 2008)
·
From April 2005 Departments have a new PSA requirement: to tackle
social exclusion and neighbourhood renewal
MAINSTREAMING
·
Re-allocation of mainstream resources – changing spending patterns
to target the most deprived areas
·
Focussing policy on poorer areas
·
Reshaping services to reflect local needs
·
Joining-up services, programmes and targets
·
Learning good practice from pilot projects
GOVERNMENT MACHINERY
Neighbourhood Renewal Unit
·
Oversees the National Strategy.
·
Based in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
Government Offices
·
Assisted the process of establishing the priority Local Strategic
Partnerships.
·
Accredited priority LSPs.
·
Mediated disputes between different sectors involved in LSPs.
·
Made arrangements for establishment of Community Networks to
engage in the priority LSPs.
·
Contracted organisations to administer Community Empowerment,
Community Chest and Community Learning Funds for priority LSP areas
until these funds merged together and given to the local authorities
to administer from April 2005.
·
Key role in agreeing Local Area Agreements.
LOCAL STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS
·
Had to be established in 88 Neighbourhood Renewal local authority
areas.
·
Set up in non-Neighbourhood Renewal areas.
·
To involve public sector agencies, private business, voluntary and
community sectors.
·
Prepare and implement Community Strategy.
·
Bring together local plans, partnerships and initiatives.
·
Work with local authorities that are developing a local Public
Service Agreement.
·
Approve, develop and deliver neighbourhood renewal strategy.
·
Specialist partnerships and strategies have to adapt to Community
Strategy.
·
Seek to change the way main stream services deliver.
·
Expected to have major role in Local Area Agreements
COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT NETWORKS
·
Part of National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal.
·
Mechanism to enable community and voluntary sector organisations and
local residents and community members to have strong in Local
Strategic Partnerships.
·
Community Empowerment Fund provided money to set up Networks until
merger into funds handed over to local authorities to administer.
Elements
·
Outreach, especially to excluded communities.
·
Build awareness of opportunity chance to express views and directly
influence service providers.
·
Pull together views of community and voluntary sectors, and those of
community members and residents.
·
Support for identifying key issues and developing solutions.
·
Procedures for choosing community and voluntary sector members of
LSP
·
Participation of community and voluntary sector members in
sufficient numbers on LSP, for which they might need training and
other forms of support
·
Provide link between LSP and community and voluntary sectors and
community members and residents
·
Offer community members and residents way of accessing LSP
·
Encourage and provide opportunities for communications and
networking between groups
·
Disseminate information and advice about training, skills and good
practice
·
Draw up plan for using CEF taking into account needs of most
deprived neighbourhoods and marginalised communities and priorities
for action set out in Community and Neighbourhood Renewal Strategies
Criteria for effectiveness
·
Build effective relationship between sector and LSP
·
Include full range of community and voluntary sector groups
·
Reach out to those excluded or not represented by any community body
·
Build on existing community and voluntary sector networks and
partnerships
·
Have accessible and consistent methods of accountability through
reporting back
·
Use members’ time and resource effectively avoiding partnership
burden
·
Be accessible to all, inc. disabled people and those whose language
is not English
·
Be well-structured and impartial
·
Continuously review appropriate membership as Network and LSP evolve
Uses for CEF - Examples
·
Outreach work to make sure awareness of opportunities for
participation and encouragement to take them up.
·
Ongoing training and support for sector members of LSP.
·
Two way dissemination of information about LSP process and about
specific issues.
·
Communications – e.g. newsletters, web sites, notice boards, regular
meetings.
·
Support for development ideas, initiatives and contributions to
strategic planning process that come from community itself
(consultations, meetings, surveys, etc)
·
Meeting costs incurred in participation in work of Network, inc.
-
travel and subsistence
-
costs of training
-
childcare
-
stationary, telephone, stamps
-
compensation to organisations for release of staff and volunteers to
actively participate in Network
NEIGHBOURHOOD RENEWAL ACTION PLAN
The National Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy Action Plan envisages
that a local neighbourhood renewal strategy should:
·
set out an agreed vision and plan for positive change in as many
neighbourhoods as are in need of renewal;
·
have the agreement and commitment of all the key people and
institutions who have a stake in the neighbourhood, or an impact on
it; and
·
clearly set out a local strategic framework for action that responds
to neighbourhood needs and puts them in the context of the area as a
whole.
The Action Plan outlines 5 steps in developing a local neighbourhood
renewal strategy.
·
Step 1: Identify the priority neighbourhoods.
·
Step 2: Identify and understand the problems of priority
neighbourhoods. What are the baseline statistics? What are the key
problems? How have they changed over time? What are the causes?
·
Step 3: Map resources going into property neighbourhoods. How much
time and money do organisations including community and voluntary
groups spend in the area? What other assets exist – volunteers,
buildings, facilities, organisations, community groups or networks
not currently involved in regeneration?
·
Step 4: Agree on what more needs to be done. Agree goals and make
commitments e.g. to: set targets; change the way existing services
work; introduce new services; join up services; expand existing
services; try Neighbourhood Management; consider the most effective
use of assets; rationalise activity; bid for new money/explore new
flexibilities with central Government
·
Step 5: Implement and monitor agreed action: implement agreed
changes, monitor changes in outcomes and ways of working, adapt
strategy in response to risks and opportunities.
·
Step 5 leads back to Step 1 to see whether the action has
sufficiently achieved change so that the neighbourhood no longer
needs to be a priority neighbourhood, or requires another process
through steps 2-5.
UNDERSTANDING THE PROCESS OF NEIGHBOURHOOD DECLINE
·
The processes that create decline into deprivation of neighbourhoods
and their concentration of social excluded residents are complex.
·
They include the effect on the individual residents.
·
Often they experience a process of personal impoverishment, a
drastic impoverishment of their sense of well-being with adverse
effects on physical and mental health.
·
This aspect of the ‘spirituality’ of human beings needs to form part
of the analysis of why particular neighbourhoods are deprived, and
what may be going on in others to push them into the downward spiral
into decay.
·
The concept of the process of ‘impoverishment’ seems to be missing
from the National Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy, but is usefully
given its due in a handbook commissioned by the European Commission:
‘Rapid Appraisal Method of Social Exclusion and Poverty (RAMSEP)’ by
Emanuel Mastropietro. (CERFE/European Commission 2001).
·
RAMSEP definition: ‘Social exclusion is the process produced by the
accumulative and interaction between each other of various social
and environmental risk factors, which tend to push human beings
exposed to it and affected by it toward a state of poverty. Social
exclusion is therefore a process of impoverishment.’
·
The Project suggests that :
o
due to the set of risk factors there is an impoverishment process
taking a non-poor individual down into poverty
o
poverty involves a loss of identity, or a loss of wide-ranging
control over the environment
o
different forms of deprivation produce different ways of reacting to
poverty
o
different reactions to deprivation suggest different areas of
poverty, the three main ones being: (a) transitional or
intermittent, (b) overall condition of suffering, (c) extreme
poverty involving a radical loss of control over one’s existence
Risk Factors
The project has identified 13 risk factors (some examples of
detailed indicators are listed against each).
1.
Habitat. These include dwellings built in inappropriate areas,
overcrowded areas, dwellings, continuous/deafening noise for long
periods, pollution, toxic substance sin the ground, low presence of
parks, green area
2.
Health. Level of availability of services, incidence of AIDS and
sexually transmitted diseases, illegal abortions, incidence of
mental illness and physical disabilities, alcoholism, drug addiction
3.
Work. Unemployment: general, youth, long-term; under-employment;
employment locations not protected by trade union
4.
Intelligence. Quality of educational services, level of cultural
infrastructure, school drop rate, difficult of access to training,
incidence of unemployment among those with school qualifications and
degrees
5.
Crime. Level of existence and maintenance of street lighting; police
presence; hooliganism and vandalism; juvenile delinquency; bullying;
crimes and thefts usury; drug dealing
6.
Gender. Rape and sexual harassment, prostitution, adult women at
home, discrimination in workplace, prejudice against single mothers
7.
Family. Level of under 5s and youth provision, incidence of families
separated by divorce, domestic violence, large families, one-parent
families
8.
Communication. Network of public transport, road network condition,
internet cafes/points, newsagents/vendors, post offices
9.
Public Administration. Emergency services, responsive of local
government, health and other service agencies
10.
Institutional Disorder. Discrimination, abuse of police authority,
political conflict, emigration abroad, illegal immigration, conflict
between immigrants and resident population, benefit stigmatisation,
existence of cultural mediators/translators in public offices
11.
Social Security. Income support, support for homelessness, elderly,
employment is dangerous/unhealthy conditions (e.g. building sites
without protection), employment without accident and illness
insurance
12.
Social abandonment. Non profit services of social assistance and
home care, self-help groups, elderly people living alone, vagrancy
and homelessness,
13.
Consumption (non-essential goods). Malls, shopping centres, travel
agencies, high tech shops, meeting places, gyms and swimming pools,
exclusive shops
Types of Poverty
RAMSEP suggests that there are three types of poverty:
·
Intermittent/transitory: borders on non-poverty
·
Overall poverty: involving serious lack of resources, use of
survival strategies, and optimism, weak social ties
·
Extreme poverty: involves resignation so that there is less control
over the environment and evidence loss of identity
·
Individuals react differently to their deprivation. RAMSEP suggests
that reactions involve different levels of loss of control of
identify, caused by
o
intensity of material deprivation – low availability of goods
enjoyed and/or basic services benefited from
o
loss of engagement in informal social networks and with formal
social networks
o
lack of will and capacity to act.
·
It ‘is often possible to enter a vicious circle of impoverishment
due to an illness, due to the lack of professional help, due to
unstable housing conditions, due to a high crime rate in the areas,
etc’.
Life-Histories
·
An important set of information about the process of impoverishment
alongside the more traditional statistical analysis (e.g. using the
Census) is the use of life-histories to illustrate the way the risk
factors have affected people, and people’s reactions to their
impoverishment.
Effective Interventions
·
‘Knowing the intensity with which social and environmental risks
occur in a given area (social exclusion) and investigating the ways
in which these social risks impact on the lives of individuals
(individual social exclusion profiles) therefore allows us to
collect basic information in order to plan an efficient, relevant
poverty prevent policy.’ (RAMSEP Project)
·
‘An effective policy to combat poverty requires preventative actions
aimed at blocking the process of impoverishment. This action will be
linked on the one hand to supporting any inadequacies in services
(health, education, housing, communication, social security, etc.)
and on the other hand to improving their quality.’ (RAMSEP Project)
·
The following renewal interventions are needed to block the process
of impoverishment:
-
improving employment opportunities
-
improving income support
-
addressing inadequacies in services, improving their quality and
establishing new services
-
improving the environment
-
community development
-
neighbourhood renewal strategies need to include interventions to
block the process of impoverishment
THE LANGUAGE OF REGENERATION: SPIRITUAL CAPITAL
·
The language of regeneration and neighbourhood renewal talks about
‘social’, economic’, ‘environmental’ regeneration, ‘social
exclusion’, and ‘social’, economic’ and ‘environmental’ capital.
·
Yet we know that the fear of crime, the general decay of the state
of the local environment, the lack of prospects, can all have
adverse effects on individuals’ sense of well-being and mental
health.
·
The experience of social exclusion or the onset of sudden crises,
whether economic or health, can adversely affect the way people
feel.
·
The constant experience of negative material conditions has an
adverse effect on the human spirit.
·
We should also be talking about ‘spiritual capital’. This not the
same as the religious concept of ‘spirituality’.
·
A non-religious example is the conclusion of longitudinal historical
medical research from the United States that the more intellectually
stimulated very old people are, the healthier they remain.
An analysis of the neighbourhood, its history, socio-economic and
environmental conditions, of the degree of poverty and social
exclusion, of the risk factors that may enlarge poverty and social
exclusion, of the services and initiatives available, of the
strengths in the community, and the state of ‘spiritual
well-being’/’spiritual capital’ are the foundation stones on which
effective action on neighbourhood deprivation can be built.
WARD LEVEL
NEIGHBOURHOOD RENEWAL STRATEGY
Ward level Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy needs to be based on:
·
understanding the nature and dynamic of the neighbourhood
·
identifying the scale of poverty and social exclusion
·
the processes of impoverishment
·
identifying the risk factors that push or keep people in poverty and
social security
·
understanding the degree to which service providers are failing
·
identifying its strengths, opportunities and the skills and talents
of local people
·
devising a strategy to improve services and reduce risk factors, any
improve people’s life chances and fosters skills and talents
WHAT IS A NEIGHBOURHOOD?
·
There is often no consensus on what a neighbourhood is.
·
Depending on local history, road and rail layout, natural geographic
features, and the perception of local residents, a neighbourhood
might be an estate, part of an estate, a small number of streets, or
a large number of streets.
·
The population size of a neighbourhood might vary from 2-3,000 to
10,000.
KEY INFORMATION NEEDS
·
Socio-economic analysis e.g. Census etc: social status, income,
health, employment, deprivation etc
·
Provision of public and other services: the range, availability and
quality, the degree to which they are addressing poverty and social
deprivation, the activity and effect of any existing anti-poverty
and social exclusion initiatives
·
Visual feel for area – day and evening
·
Quality of built and open space environments
·
Population and demographic turnover
·
How the area has been shaped: inc. physical development of the
neighbourhood; past industries and employment; socio-economic
changes; community and voluntary, self-help and collective
organisational activity were involved in e.g. trade unions,
co-operatives friendly societies, loan societies, etc.
·
Who Influences the Neighbourhood?
Are some people, organisations and groups more influential than
others, and is their effect positive or negative?
·
Risk factors and life histories
·
Strengths and skills in the area.
WHAT IS ‘COMMUNITY’
·
‘Community’ is the web of personal relationships, groups, networks,
traditions and patterns of behaviour:
o
that exist amongst those who share physical neighbourhoods,
socio-economic conditions or common understandings and interests;
o
that develop against the backdrop of the physical neighbourhood and
its socio-economic situation.
·
The word ‘community’ is often treated as a single entity. It is not
– it is comprised of many different overlapping communities,
including:
o
geographic - people living in a neighbourhood or on an estate;
o
of interest sharing concerns and perspectives e.g. users, disabled,
ethnic, faith, gender/sexuality, age based, interest, workplace,
business, sport, hobby.
·
People move in and out of different communities, and can belong to
more than one community at any one time. However:
o
Some communities are more privileged than others
o
Many communities can be excluded
·
What are the many varied ‘communities’ in Prince’s?
·
Which are more privileged than others?
·
Which are excluded or perceive themselves to be excluded?
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
·
Community development needs to be an integral part of Neighbourhood
Renewal.
·
Community Development starts from an assumption that most social
problems are rooted in the political, social and economic structure.
·
It is the process of building active and sustainable
communities based on social justice and mutual respect.
·
It is about changing power structures to remove the barriers that
prevent people from participating in the issues that affect their
lives.
·
Community workers support the participation of people in this
process.
·
They enable connections to be made between communities and with the
development of wider policies and programmes.
·
It expresses values of fairness, equality, accountability,
opportunity, choice, participation, mutuality, reciprocity and
continuous learning.
·
Educating, enabling and empowering are at the core of Community
Development.
‘RESPECT’
·
One of the perceived problems in deprived neighbourhoods is the
breakdown in relationships between different social groups,
including age between young people and the elderly.
·
This seems partly to be linked to the concept of ‘Respect’, another
component of ‘spiritual capital’.
·
An event in Lambeth involving a wide variety of different social
groups and organisations defined ‘respect’ as meaning:
o
valuing differences – different cultures, backgrounds, skills,
faiths, abilities and disabilities
o
acknowledging and recognising people’s life experiences and the
choices they make
o
sharing common bonds and working together on issues that concern us
all
o
being accountable – politicians should be accountable for their
decisions. The council and other organisations that provide services
should respond quickly and politely when people need help.
·
‘Respect’ is shown by:
o
treating other people as we wish to be treated
o
leading by example
o
being open and welcoming
o
embracing other cultures
o
giving thanks and positive feedback when these are due
·
It is then possible to look at what different groups might regard as
ways in which ‘respect’ is given to them.
o
Young people: inclusive and accessible activities in schools,
community venues and youth centres; having responsibility for their
clubs and centres; opportunities to discuss their issues, concerns
and aspirations
o
Older people: provision of a safe, easily accessible place to
socialise, communicate and support each other; access to transport;
adequate funding; opportunities for their voices to be heard
o
Disabled and vulnerable people: provision of independent living
support schemes run and managed by people with disabilities and
their allies; safe, accusable places to socialise - with transport
provided; well-publicised consultation meetings where people with
disabilities can express their views; better communication with
health professionals – people with disabilities need information so
that they can make intelligent decisions on their care
o
Job seekers: understanding that being in work makes people feel
included and increases their self-esteem; supporting people to find
work, regardless of their race or disability; supporting young
people starting out in the world of work with modern
apprenticeships, business advice, financial guidance and grants,
good vocational education, scholarships for further and higher
education.
·
To what extent is ‘respect’ about individuals’ relationships with
each other?
·
How can individuals develop respect if they do not meet with people
in other social, cultural and ethnic groups?
·
Does the work of the Council (education, social services, leisure &
amenities, economic development, etc), the health service, the
police, the employment service, private employers, and community and
voluntary groups, meet these conceptions of ‘respect’?
A WELL-FUNCTIONING COMMUNITY
The following are ten key characteristics for a good and well
functioning community that have been identified.
(1)
A learning community, where people and groups gain knowledge, skills
and confidence through community action.
(2)
A fair and just community, which upholds civic rights and equality
of opportunity, and which recognizes and celebrates the distinctive
features of its cultures.
(3)
An active and empowered community, where people are fully involved
and which has strong and varied local organisations and a clear
identity and self-confidence.
(4)
An influential community, which is consulted and has a strong voice
in decisions which affect its interests.
(5)
An economically strong community, which creates opportunities for
work and which retains a high proportion of its wealth.
(6)
A caring community, aware of the needs of its members and in which
services are of good quality and meet these needs.
(7)
A green community, with a healthy and pleasant environment,
awareness of environmental responsibility.
(8)
A safe community, where people do not fear crime, violence or other
hazards.
(9)
A welcoming community, which people like, feel happy about and do
not wish to leave.
(10)
A lasting community, which is well established and likely to
survive.
·
Are there some of its neighbourhoods more like this than others?
DEVELOPING A
NEIGHBOURHOOD STRATEGY
·
Having undertaken an analysis of the neighbourhood, its history,
socio-economic and environmental conditions, of the degree of
poverty and social exclusion, of the risk factors that may enlarge
poverty and social exclusion, of the services and initiatives
available, and of the strengths in the community, it begins to be
possible for agencies and local organisations to begin to think
about what policy and services interventions are needed.
·
‘Knowing the intensity with which social and environmental risks
occur in a given area (social exclusion) and investigating the ways
in which these social risks impact on the lives of individuals
(individual social exclusion profiles) therefore allows us to
collect basic information in order to plan an efficient, relevant
poverty prevent policy.’ (RAMSEP Project)
·
‘An effective policy to combat poverty requires preventative actions
aimed at blocking the process of impoverishment. This action will be
linked on the on the one hand to supporting any inadequacies in
services (health, education, housing, communication, social
security, etc.) and on the other hand to improving their quality.’
(RAMSEP Project)
·
The interventions will probably need to include:
§
improving employment opportunities
§
improving income support
§
addressing inadequacies in services, improving their quality and
establishing new services
§
blocking the process of impoverishment
§
improving the environment
§
community development
Sean Creighton
Development & Management Worker
Riverside Community Development Trust
Earlier version presented to the RCDT Board 14 February 2005
© Sean Creighton
November 2005