A report by a panel of business leaders made recommendations designed to make it easier for businesses to become involved in the government's neighbourhood renewal strategy.
Source: The Private Sector Advisory Panel on Neighbourhood Renewal: Report and Government response, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report (pdf) | ODPM press release
Date: 2004-Dec
The schools inspectorate said that the Excellence in Cities programme was starting to have a positive impact on educational attainment in primary schools. (In September 2000 the government expanded the programme into primary schools in order to improve educational achievement and promote social inclusion in disadvantaged areas.)
Source: Excellence in Cities: The Primary Extension - Real stories, HMI 2394, Office for Standards in Education (07002 637833)
Links: Report (pdf) | OFSTED press release
Date: 2004-Dec
A study assessed the main strategic, inter-sectoral and delivery issues that had arisen during the first phase of the Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder programme in parts of the Midlands and North of England. It said that many aspects of the programme were 'distinctive and innovative'.
Source: Ian Cole and Brendan Nevin, The Road to Renewal: The early development of the Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder programme, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (01904 629241)
Links: Report (pdf) | Findings D34
Date: 2004-Dec
A report made the case for putting local government at the heart of civil renewal. It showed what councils were doing, both to build stronger communities better able to look after themselves, and to strengthen their capacity to participate in local governance. It also identified where councils could do more.
Source: Towards Self-governing Communities: The role of local government in civil renewal, Local Government Association (020 7664 3000)
Links: Report (pdf) | LGA press release
Date: 2004-Dec
A report warned that a programme to improve housing conditions and regenerate areas in the north of England (Housing Market Renewal Pathfinders) could be pricing local people out of the market - leading to a rise in homelessness.
Source: Catherine Grannum, On the Up: The housing crisis in the north, Shelter (020 7505 4699)
Links: Report (pdf) | Shelter press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Dec
A study looked at how two local strategic partnerships had brought local environmental issues to the centre of their work. Residents in poor neighbourhoods had repeatedly raised concerns about the condition of their local environments in consultation exercises. Failure to respond to these doorstep issues fuelled the belief that neither local nor national government was able to deliver policies which embraced local needs and concerns.
Source: Karen Lucas, Sara Fuller, Anthony Psaila and Diana Thrush, Prioritising Local Environmental Concerns: Where there's a will there's a way, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 430033)
Links: Report (pdf) | JRF Findings N74
Date: 2004-Nov
The second annual report of the New Deal for Communities was published. It drew on a wide range of evidence collected by the evaluation team during 2003-04, including 39 partnership reports, and project case studies. There were 'marked similarities' with the evidence from 2002-03. But where direct comparisons between the two years were possible, modest but real improvements occurred in many areas: partnerships and agencies identified fewer constraints on delivery; NDC/agency interactions deepened; and relations with local authorities generally improved.
Source: Paul Lawless et al., New Deal for Communities - The National Evaluation Annual Report 2003/04: Research report 12, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (0870 1226 236)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2004-Nov
A think-tank report said that the small firms driving regeneration in the poorest areas were being priced out by the very inner city renaissance they were helping to create. It recommended that land should be held in trust in regeneration areas to enable job and wealth creation to benefit those that lived and worked locally.
Source: John Taylor, Anne-Marie Davies and Andrea Westall, The Inner City 100: Impacts and Influences, New Economics Foundation (020 7820 6300)
Links: Report (pdf) | NEF press release
Date: 2004-Nov
A study attempted to establish whether big businesses benefited deprived communities or exploited them. It examined the US enterprise model, and specifically the impact of the McDonald s company on local communities. It concluded that McDonald s and others had a business model that conferred far more on local communities than most people would credit.
Source: Andy Westwood (with Liz Reynolds), Who Is Being Served?: McDonald s and the UK enterprise agenda, Work Foundation (0870 165 6700)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Oct
A report said that community leaders mistrusted community involvement strategies by companies. Community leaders perceived companies as looking for easy, short-term projects that would generate positive press coverage.
Source: Getting Engaged: Achieving closer working relationships between companies and local communities, Charities Aid Foundation (01732 520000)
Links: CAF press release
Date: 2004-Oct
A literature review examined the effectiveness of community involvement in area-based initiatives. Linked guidance was also published.
Source: Paul Burton et al., What Works in Community Involvement in Area-based Initiatives?: A systematic review of the literature, Online Report 53/04, Home Office (web publication only) | Christine Sylvest Larsen, Facilitating Community Involvement: Practical guidance for practitioners and policy makers, Development and Practice Report 27, Home Office (020 7273 2084)
Links: Report (pdf) | Guidance (pdf)
Date: 2004-Oct
An audit report said that single Community Programme funding was leading to greater involvement of deprived communities in influencing local decisions: but more needed to be done to reach all sectors and groups.
Source: Getting Citizens Involved: Community participation in neighbourhood renewal, National Audit Office (020 7798 7000) HC 1070 (Session 2003-04)
Links: Report (pdf) | NAO press release | ODPM press release
Date: 2004-Oct
The report was published of a conference which aimed to demonstrate that, when gender analysis and gender impact assessment were used, the result was better-value regeneration programmes that addressed poverty and exclusion more effectively.
Source: Nikki van der Gaag, Gender and the Reality of Regeneration: A tale of two cities Conference report, Oxfam GB (01865 313184)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2004-Oct
A report examined the extent to which local strategic partnerships had developed as strategic and inclusive partnerships; and considered progress in relation to performance management, efficiency and learning and development.
Source: York Consulting Limited, 2002-03 Progress Report on Local Strategic Partnerships in Neighbourhood Renewal Fund Areas, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (0870 1226 236)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2004-Sep
A report examined emerging practice in extended schools, and its implications for public services and communities. It said that extended schools would need to rethink their relationships with parents and partners in order to build the legitimacy they needed.
Source: John Craig with Julia Huber and Hannah Lownsbrough, Schools Out: Can teachers, social workers and health staff learn to live together?, Hay Group Education (020 7856 7000)
Links: Report (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Sep
An evaluation of Residents' Consultancy Pilots found significant benefits, both for the resident 'mentors' and the communities they worked in. (The initiative aimed to engage residents in the regeneration of their local areas, sharing expertise and ideas to promote community-driven neighbourhood renewal.)
Source: Amion Consulting, Evaluation of the Residents' Consultancy Pilots Initiative, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (0870 1226 236)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf) | ODPM press release
Date: 2004-Sep
A report by a committee of MPs evaluated the New Deal for Communities programme. It called on the government to streamline area-based initiatives aimed at deprived communities; review the wider impact on social cohesion of targeted and piloted approaches to neighbourhood renewal; ensure that community representatives on NDC boards had the authority to represent their communities; and clarify the role of local authorities in NDC partnerships.
Source: An Early Progress Report on the New Deal for Communities Programme, Thirty-eighth Report (Session 2003-04), HC 492, House of Commons Public Accounts Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | ODPM press release
Date: 2004-Sep
An inspectorate report said that the integrated community schools initiative in Scotland had enhanced joint working between schools and other agencies to provide support for young people, particularly the most vulnerable. But it had not been fully successful in its aim of establishing a new over-arching vision and framework for the delivery of education and other children's services, using schools as the hub.
Source: The Sum of its Parts?: The development of integrated community schools in Scotland, HM Inspectorate of Education in Scotland (0131 244 0650)
Links: Report
Date: 2004-Sep
A literature review sought to establish what was known about neighbourhood change in the United Kingdom and identify gaps in that knowledge, in order to inform the research agenda and policy development.
Source: Anne Power and Ruth Lupton, What We Know about Neighbourhood Change: A literature review, CASEreport 27, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion/London School of Economics (020 7955 6679)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2004-Sep
The government said that it wanted all 20,000 primary schools in England and Wales to adopt 10-hour days, as 'extended' schools. A survey found that almost half of all primary schools thought they were likely to be providing an extended school within the next two years.
Source: Press release 8 September 2004, Department for Education and Skills (0870 000 2288) | Press release 8 September 2004, 4Children (formerly Kids Clubs Network) (020 7512 2100)
Links: DfES press release | 4C press release | NUT press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Sep
A report examined the usefulness of two frameworks for assessing community participation in regeneration, and the practical difficulties involved in using them. A companion handbook combined and developed the original frameworks, drawing on the lessons learned.
Source: Danny Burns, Frances Heywood, Pete Wilde and Mandy Wilson, What Works in Assessing Community Participation?, Policy Press for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500) | Danny Burns, Frances Heywood, Marilyn Taylor, Pete Wilde and Mandy Wilson, Making Community Participation Meaningful: A handbook for development and assessment, Policy Press for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from Marston Book Services
Links: Summary | Summary (handbook)
Date: 2004-Jul
A paper (by an American authority on regeneration) said that regeneration policies for Britain s disadvantaged neighbourhoods should aim to do far more than create jobs or provide better homes in order to deliver sustainable, long-term improvements. Such policies needed to create neighbourhoods of choice places able to attract new, higher-earning residents, while encouraging local people to stay in the area when their own standard of living started to rise.
Source: Bruce Katz, Neighbourhoods of Choice and Connection: The evolution of American neighbourhood policy and what it means for the United Kingdom, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (01904 629241)
Links: Paper (pdf) | JRF press release
Date: 2004-Jul
A report by a committee of MPs said that the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister should take over responsibility for protecting historic buildings, to ensure heritage played a bigger role in regeneration schemes.
Source: The Role of Historic Buildings in Urban Regeneration, Eleventh Report (Session 2003-04), HC 47-I, House of Commons Office of the Deputy Prime Minister: Housing, Planning, Local Government and the Regions Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Jul
A report provided an update on the progress made in implementing the race equality action plan published by the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit in October 2002.
Source: Race Equality in Neighbourhood Renewal, Neighbourhood Renewal Unit/Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (020 7944 8383)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2004-Jul
The Scottish Executive announced a new 104 million Community Regeneration Fund, aimed at improving Scotland's most deprived areas and helping individuals and families escape poverty. The fund combined and replaced three existing programmes (the Social Inclusion Partnerships funds, the Better Neighbourhood Services Fund, and the Tackling Drugs Misuse Fund) and would be targeted on the communities identified in the Scottish index of multiple deprivation.
Source: Press release 12 July 2004, Scottish Executive (0131 556 8400)
Links: SE press release
Date: 2004-Jul
A document summarised the policy of the Housing Corporation on regeneration and market renewal to help achieve sustainable communities. It set out the definition of regeneration used as it applied to urban, rural and other areas; the outcomes of regeneration; the role of the Corporation in investment and regulation; the need for partnership working; and the role that housing associations could play.
Source: Regeneration and Market Renewal Policy: Adding value to what we have, Housing Corporation (020 7393 2000)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2004-Jun
An article examined the degree to which education action zones had delivered on their objectives, and highlighted the lessons that could be learnt from their operation so far.
Source: David Halpin, Marny Dickson, Sally Power, Geoff Whitty and Sharon Gewirtz, 'Area-based approaches to educational regeneration', Policy Studies, Volume 25 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2004-Jun
A summary report highlighted a selection of findings from the evaluation to date of the Sure Start local programmes, including preliminary findings from a study looking at its impact on outcomes for children and parents. A second report described changes in Sure Start local programme communities since 2000-01.
Source: Towards Understanding Sure Start Local Programmes: Findings to date, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260) | Characteristics of Sure Start Local Programme Areas: 2001/2, National Evaluation Report 5, Department for Education and Skills
Links: Towards Understanding report (pdf) | Characteristics report (pdf) | Characteristics summary (pdf) | DfES press release
Date: 2004-Jun
A schools inspectorate report said that Early Excellence Centres were successful in tackling the effects of child poverty in the most deprived communities. Three-quarters of those inspected were providing a good service to their local community.
Source: Children at the Centre: An evaluation of early excellence centres, HMI 222, Office for Standards in Education (07002 637833)
Links: Report (pdf) | OFSTED press release
Date: 2004-Jun
A report examined the nature of joint working between sports organisations and those promoting neighbourhood renewal. The aim of the study was to identify ways to increase the incidence and the effectiveness of joint working.
Source: Joint Working in Sport and Neighbourhood Renewal, Research report 9, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (0870 1226 236)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary
Date: 2004-Jun
A report outlined the ways in which Sure Start local programmes were helping to improve the employability of parents, and also described examples of promising practice.
Source: Pamela Meadows and Claudia Garbers, Improving the Employability of Parents in Sure Start Local Programmes, National Evaluation Report 6, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf)
Date: 2004-Jun
A report examined the use of youth work in 40 local authorities in England. Overall, the evidence suggested that the programmes successfully engaged with some of the hardest-to-reach young people living in the most deprived areas.
Source: David Turner and Steve Martin, Delivering Social Inclusion: An evaluation of the Neighbourhood Support Fund projects managed by The NYA, Centre for Local and Regional Government Research/Cardiff University (029 2087 4000)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2004-May
An evaluation found that the Neighbourhood Support Fund had consistently achieved its main aims throughout a three-year pilot. NSF projects engaged more than 50,000 young people in their projects - 5,000 more than target.
Source: Sarah Golden, Thomas Spielhofer, David Sims and Lisa O Donnell, Supporting the Hardest-to-Reach Young People: The contribution of the Neighbourhood Support Fund, Research Report 535, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report (pdf) | Brief (pdf)
Date: 2004-May
A report said that government should provide more support and guidance to help local strategic partnerships develop, monitor, use and update their neighbourhood renewal strategies. There were 'evident difficulties' in imposing a new framework on an already overcrowded field of programmes and initiatives.
Source: Hilary Russell et al., Local Neighbourhood Renewal Strategies: Document analysis and review, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (0870 1226 236) and Department for Transport
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2004-May
A report said there was good reason to believe that extended schools had important positive effects, and represented a good return on a relatively low level of additional funding. In order to determine their long-term effects, however, a longitudinal and wider-ranging evaluation strategy was needed. (Extended schools offer services to pupils, their families and local communities over and above their core business of teaching the curriculum during the normal school day.)
Source: Colleen Cummings, Alan Dyson and Liz Todd, Evaluation of Extended Schools Pathfinder Projects, Research Report 530, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report (pdf) | Brief (pdf)
Date: 2004-Apr
An article discussed some of the tensions revealed in the development and implementation of area-based approaches to social policy in England. It discussed the problems of securing popular participation, including in particular the tendency for expectations of participation to lead to 'pathological' interpretations of the causes of (and solutions to) social exclusion.
Source: Pete Alcock, 'Participation or pathology: contradictory tensions in area-based policy', Social Policy and Society, Volume 3 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2004-Apr
A report said that local business advisers ('business brokers') were proving to be a successful way of engaging business in neighbourhood renewal.
Source: EDuce Ltd and Cambridge Economic Associates, Business Broker Pilot Programme Evaluation: Interim report, Business in the Community (0870 600 2482)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf) | BiC press release | ODPM press release
Date: 2004-Apr
A scoping study examined the nature and characteristics of neighbourhood management activities, and put forward recommendations about how to develop a national network.
Source: Neighbourhood Management: National Network - Scoping Study, Neighbourhood Renewal Unit/Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (020 7944 8383)
Links: Summary (pdf)
Date: 2004-Apr
A report examined the implications of the winding down of the Single Regeneration Budget programme for social regeneration work (often carried out by the voluntary and community sector). It called for more funds to be made available to continue activities funded by the SRB (due to be replaced by 'single pot' funding from regional development agencies.)
Source: Out of the SRB, Into the Pot : Final paper, Urban Forum (020 7253 4816)
Links: Report (Word file) | Summary
Date: 2004-Apr
Two articles evaluated the use of indicators as a means of measuring the performance of urban regeneration projects against sustainability criteria.
Source: Lesley Hemphill, Jim Berry and Stanley McGreal, 'An indicator-based approach to measuring sustainable urban regeneration performance: Part 1, conceptual foundations and methodological framework' and 'Part 2, empirical evaluation and case-study analysis', Urban Studies, Volume 41 Number 4
Links: Abstract part 1 | Abstract part 2
Date: 2004-Apr
A report said that the government's insistence that regeneration projects must involve joint working between private developers, public agencies and community groups created more problems than it solved - raising a host of issues about trust, leadership, costs, and having too many unproductive meetings.
Source: Michael Ball, Property Development and Urban Regeneration Partnerships, Economic and Social Research Council (01793 413000)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf) | ESRC press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Apr
An independent evaluation found a fall of nearly 28 per cent in the overall rate of crime in the first wave of areas with neighbourhood wardens.
Source: Neighbourhood Wardens Scheme Evaluation, Neighbourhood Renewal Unit/Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (020 7944 8383)
Links: Report (pdf) | ODPM press release
Date: 2004-Apr
A think-tank report said that there was a significant gap in social care services for people with complex needs. People with complex needs might have to deal with a number of different issues in their lives, for example a learning disability, mental health problems, or substance abuse. They might also be living in deprived circumstances, and might lack access to stable housing or meaningful daily activity. The report proposed new 'connected care centres' in the most deprived areas, to provide comprehensive packages of social care, including tailor-made support for those with health and housing problems, or experiencing family breakdown.
Source: Jennifer Rankin and Sue Regan, Meeting Complex Needs: The future of social care, Institute for Public Policy Research, available from Central Books (0845 458 9911)
Links: Summary | IPPR press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Mar
A National Audit Office report said there were early indications that the New Deal for Communities programme was helping to tackle the problems of deprived communities; and held 'potential for future success'. But it said that many partnerships needed to improve their basic operating processes, such as the criteria against which projects were assessed and the way meetings were run. Arrangements for showing how much money had been spent by partnerships on areas such as housing or crime reduction were also weak.
Source: English Regions: An early progress report on the New Deal for Communities programme, HC 309 (Session 2003-04), National Audit Office, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf) | NAO press release | ODPM press release | Guardian report | Community Care report
Date: 2004-Feb
A report said that extended schools might be unable to continue providing extra services if long-term guaranteed funding was not provided. Although many schools began providing community facilities with funds from area-based initiatives, this money was starting to run out. This was a particular problem in more affluent rural areas with pockets of deprivation that failed to attract money from regeneration and social exclusion initiatives and had no local businesses to sponsor projects.
Source: Claire Millett, Regenerating Communities: The role of extended schools, Centre for Local Economic Strategies (0161 236 7036)
Links: Community Care article
Date: 2004-Jan
A report presented an initial review of the lessons from 'enterprise zones', based on the experiences of occupiers, developers and local authorities. It concluded that the zones had succeeded in stimulating new enterprise and in encouraging the growth of existing enterprises.
Source: Paul Syms and Angus McIntosh, Transferable Lessons from the Enterprise Zones, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (0870 1226 236)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf)
Date: 2004-Jan
The Northern Ireland Executive began consultation on a plan to tackle deprivation in 15 neighbourhood areas outside Belfast and Londonderry.
Source: Neighbourhood Renewal in Regional Towns & Cities: Draft implementation plan, Department of Social Development/Northern Ireland Executive (028 9056 9216)
Links: Consultation document (pdf) | NIE press release
Date: 2004-Jan
A paper examined low-income neighbourhoods, their organisation and management. It concluded that successful neighbourhood management needed vision, energy and dedicated resources; it also needed a strong local focus but a broad remit within the area to give it vitality and scope for radical change. It had major knock-on impacts on the environment, security, jobs on the ground, and service innovation; and it had the potential to make cities and inner neighbourhoods much more attractive.
Source: Anne Power, Neighbourhood Management and the Future of Urban Areas, CASEpaper 77, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion/London School of Economics (020 7955 6679)
Links: Paper (pdf)
Date: 2004-Jan