SURF/CDAS Seminar 25 th October 2007

1. SURF/CDAS Seminar25th October 2007 Changing Neighbourhoods The Impact of “Light Touch” Support

2. Stewart MurdochChair – Community Development Alliance Scotland

3. General Comments • The sentiments are hard to fault • The principles of empowering local communities and reducing dependency have been bought into by both the left and the right of the political spectrum • Brief input, to look at the extent to which the experience set out in the JRF report matches the local experience

4. Dundee Context • Dundee is a city which characterises the divides in our society • One third of its population live in those areas which are the “poorest” 15% of enumeration districts in Scotland • Conversely, the city has high quality suburbs, unrivalled quality of life for those who are on “good” salaries • The Local Authority has embraced a community development approach and allowed this approach to inform its development of community planning and community regeneration

5. Dundee Context • High percentage of community regeneration funding spent on activities related empowerment, capacity building, support for communities • Ongoing commitment to decentralisation, development of local representative structures and to the establishment of local officer groupings

6. Dundee Context • Embedded in policy thinking and practice • The city is divided into eight multi-member wards • City Council and its community planning partners have worked to align their service delivery to these boundaries

7. How do we match up?JRF Report - Dundee Context • Sustainable neighbourhood based organisations • Diverse range of local community groups, including Community Councils, Community Regeneration Forums, Tenants and Residents Groups • Strategy based on developing Neighbourhood Representative Structures

8. Need to have a community development plan • Neighbourhood Development Strategy 2002 - guiding implementation • Dundee Community Plan - Building Stronger Communities Theme • CRF Priorities Review: Community Engagement, Community Infrastructure and Community Capacity Building • A facilitator • Communities Officers (key role) • Community Capacity Workers • Community Regeneration Workers

9. Credit: Small amounts of unrestricted money • Local Authority Revenue Grants • Community Council Grants • Community Regeneration Fund (including small grants) • Support to access “Awards For All” • Networking opportunities • Roundtable Events • 5 Community Regeneration Forum (bringing together representatives from 3 communities) • CRF Gatherings (city-wide events bringing 75 reps together from 15 communities) • Dundee Civic Forum (CC's/NRS) • Empowering Communities (national networking events)

10. Help with action planning • Community capacity building support - quality assured by HGIOCLD Self Assessment Framework • Workers expected to support groups to develop action plans • “A broker who can mediate” • Key role played by Communities Officers - within the public sector and for the community • Project support offered to CRF Projects

11. "A light touch" • Provided in non-CRF areas such as Broughty Ferry and the West End • Demand for support exceeds resources • More intensive community development support • Provided in CRF priority areas with a total population of more than 40,000 people • A representative and engaged public sector culture • Neighbourhood Development Strategy (2002) and Decentralisation Policy (1997) • Local Community Planning/Neighbourhood Partnership Networks • Local Community Planning Partnerships

12. A wide range of agencies can make this agenda a reality • Local Community Planning Partnerships bring together, DCC reps, Partner Agencies, Elected Member and community representatives • Local knowledge and analysis • Local community plans driven by local needs/issues and extensive consultation • Community profiles used to interpret statistical data. • Use of local knowledge to allocate CRF • Web-based access to data • Engaging with the wider community • Local Community Engagement Strategies include: Information points, community newsletters, postal surveys, community conferences, community outreach/streetwork, Neighbourhood Forums, Roundtable Events

13. Celebration Events • Community Festivals/Neighbourhood Forums • Local Community Buildings • All community centres leased to local management groups - responsible for managing the planning and delivering of services. Public sector takes staffing risks and provides core funding • Open Space • Parks activities and events • Wide range of environmental groups/projects • Local community plans address environment issues

14. Youth Forums • Dundee Youth Voice (YMSP Forum) • Local Youth Forums • Action plans for involving young people in community planning • Young people involved in managing youth facilities and making recommendations on CRF applications • Organisational Capacity • Personal learning plans • Group Action Plans • Monitoring and evaluating • Direct resourcing of organisational capacity

15. Working with diversity • Equality Impact Assessment planned for local community planning process • Hilltown Gender Project • CRF programme targets minority groups e.g. Access To Learning Project, Community Languages Programme • Trusted allies • Emphasis on partnership working rather than on "us and them" culture • Community Capacity Workers/Community Officers • NPN's/LCPP's

16. Where are we apart?What are the critical questions? • How 'light' is light? (anything is better than nothing, less may not be enough) • Where we have invested more intensively, are we sure we have not created a new form of dependency? • Do we want to 'mature' community development into partnership models or do we view it as empowering the community to challenge 'public sector' dominated partnerships? • What are we really trying to achieve?

17. Key Messages • I am in agreement with the findings and recommendations which emerge from this important report • I would strongly endorse the central messages in relation to public sector culture • We do not (as a rule) provide an adequate percentage for participation • We do not manage to create timescales which are realistic for community engagement • We seldom reward officers who take on the risks of working as agents between the community and the public sector process

18. Despite our best efforts, our structures only make sense to a small number of people living in neighbourhoods and the task of reaching out to others is enduring • We are driven by short term targets that provide insufficient time for reflection on informal learning • We must not perpetuate the myth that the conditions which have brought about polarisation in our society and created significant divisions can be addressed by the impact of a 'light touch'.

19. Unintended Consequences? • The current economic climate • The political kudos to be gained from lowering Council Tax • There is a danger that the JRF report will be ceased upon eagerly by those who are looking for evidence to support their argument for disinvestment or a lower level of investment in community development activity

20. If we do not provide adequate supportcommunity development can be a destructive force which empowers negative activists, fuels dissent, leads to cynicism on the part of local elected members

21. “light touch”

22. or light touch paper?