An article used qualitative data from a study of education action zones to explore how parents experienced initiatives designed to build their social capital. It said that policy-makers and practitioners concerned with challenging social exclusion needed to pay closer attention to the real, as opposed to imagined, local socio-cultural environments within which policies were implemented.
Source: Sharon Gewirtz, Marny Dickson, Sally Power, David Halpin and Geoff Whitty, 'The deployment of social capital theory in educational policy and provision: the case of Education Action Zones in England': Subtitle, British Educational Research Journal, Volume 31 Number 6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2005-Dec
A report (by a construction company) said that the construction industry persisted in building communities that were "pre-programmed to fail", making the requirement for a fourth programme of demolition and regeneration by 2035 increasingly likely.
Source: Failing Communities: Breaking the cycle, Wates Group Limited (01372 861000)
Links: Report | Wates press release
Date: 2005-Dec
A report examined patterns of economic segregation in England. It identified both the underlying patterns of deprivation and why people chose to move to particular areas. It was particularly difficult to design policies to attract back older households to cities in order to promote integration.
Source: Geoffrey Meen, Kenneth Gibb, Jennifer Goody, Thomas McGrath and Jane Mackinnon, Economic Segregation in England: Causes, consequences and policy, Policy Press for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Report | JRF Findings
Date: 2005-Dec
A report examined the development and expansion of Sure Start Scotland services since 2001.
Source: Sarah Cunningham-Burley, Amanda Carty, Claudia Martin and Anne Birch, Sure Start Scotland Mapping Exercise 2004, Scottish Executive, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report
Date: 2005-Dec
A report evaluated the impact on minority ethnic pupils of a programme designed to improve educational outcomes in schools in deprived urban areas in England.
Source: Lesley Kendall, Simon Rutt and Ian Schagen, Minority Ethnic Pupils and Excellence in Cities: Final report, Research Report 703, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Date: 2005-Nov
A report evaluated a programme designed to improve educational outcomes in schools in deprived urban areas in England. The programme was found to have had a mixed, but generally positive, impact.
Source: Lesley Kendall et al., Excellence in Cities: The National Evaluation of a Policy to Raise Standards in Urban Schools 2000-2003, Research Report 675A, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report | Summary | Brief
Date: 2005-Nov
A report provided a national evaluation of the early years of the New Deal for Communities programme from 2001 to 2005. It concluded that the programme had made progress through a wide range of projects.
Source: Paul Lawless et al., New Deal for Communities: An Interim Evaluation 2005, Research Report 17, Neighbourhood Renewal Unit/Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (020 7944 8383)
Links: Report | Summary | ODPM press release
Date: 2005-Nov
A report evaluated a programme designed to improve educational outcomes in schools in deprived urban areas in England. The programme was found to have had a positive impact on a wide range of areas.
Source: Kate Ridley and Lesley Kendall, Evaluation of Excellence in Cities Primary Pilot 2001-2003, Research Report 675, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Date: 2005-Nov
The government launched a pilot scheme under which young people aged 15-20 from disadvantaged communities would be trained to be advisers on local decisions affecting them. The young advisers would show community leaders and local decision-makers how to engage other young people in community life, regeneration and renewal.
Source: Press release 9 November 2005, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (020 7944 3000)
Links: ODPM press release
Date: 2005-Nov
A collection of essays examined ways of prioritizing the needs of children and young people in the design of neighbourhoods.
Source: Play, Participation and Potential: Putting young people at the heart of communities, Groundwork UK (0121 236 8565)
Links: Report | Groundwork press release
Date: 2005-Nov
The Lottery Fund launched a programme supporting projects that improved the quality of life in communities in England, offering help to those most in need. The programme would provide funding of 100 million in its first year, with up to 500,000 available for individual projects.
Source: Press release 22 November 2005, Big Lottery Fund (020 7211 1800)
Links: BLF press release
Date: 2005-Nov
An article examined the employment zone initiative. It concluded that the flexibility of private providers was able to increase the effectiveness of placement services compared with Jobcentre Plus: but the initiative suffered from the general deficiencies of work first policies.
Source: Oliver Bruttel, 'Are employment zones successful? evidence from the first four years', Local Economy, Volume 20 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2005-Nov
Five reports contained the early findings of an independent evaluation of Sure Start. Children of teenage mothers and of unemployed or lone parents did worse in Sure Start areas than those in similarly deprived communities elsewhere. The government said that the programme showed positive results for most children and families.
Source: National Evaluation of Sure Start, Early Impacts of Sure Start Local Programmes (SSLPs) on Children and Families, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260) | National Evaluation of Sure Start, Variation in SSLP Effectiveness: Early preliminary findings, Department for Education and Skills | National Evaluation of Sure Start, Implementing Sure Start Local Programmes: An integrated overview of the first four years, Department for Education and Skills | National Evaluation of Sure Start, The Quality of Early Learning, Play and Childcare services in SSLPs, Department for Education and Skills | National Evaluation of Sure Start, Maternity Services in SSLPs, Department for Education and Skills | Press release 30 November 2005, Department for Education and Skills (0870 000 2288)
Links: Report 1 | Report 2 | Report 3 | Report 4 | Report 5 | DfES press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Nov
A report presented the interim findings from the first year of the evaluation of the Working Neighbourhoods Pilot, established in April 2004 to test a new approach to offering intensive, very local, support to help people to gain work.
Source: Sara Dewson, Evaluation of the Working Neighbourhoods Pilot: Year One, Research Report 297, CDS/Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Date: 2005-Nov
An article examined how the impacts of area-based initiatives on key outcomes might be assessed, by drawing upon an evaluation of the Single Regeneration Budget.
Source: John Rhodes, Peter Tyler and Angela Brennan, 'Assessing the effect of area based initiatives on local area outcomes: some thoughts based on the national evaluation of the Single Regeneration Budget in England', Urban Studies, Volume 42 Number 11
Links: Abstract
Date: 2005-Oct
An article examined parent participation in local Sure Start partnerships, within the broader context of public involvement in policy-making processes.
Source: Ulla Gustafsson and Stephen Driver, 'Parents, power and public participation: Sure Start, an experiment in New Labour governance', Social Policy and Administration, Volume 39 Number 5
Links: Abstract
Date: 2005-Oct
A report said that involving local people delivered improved public services, and saved money by better targeting local needs. Community involvement was a crucial factor in improving services in deprived areas.
Source: SQW Ltd., Improving Delivery of Mainstream Services in Deprived Areas: The role of community involvement, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (web publication only)
Links: Report (pdf) | ODPM press release
Date: 2005-Sep
A guide showed how local authorities and other public bodies could use their purchasing power to promote local economic development. If the public sector steered just 10 per cent more of everyday spending on goods and services into the country s most disadvantaged areas, this would amount to 12.5 billion of income in those areas each year.
Source: Public Spending for Public Benefit, New Economics Foundation (020 7820 6300)
Links: Guide (pdf) | NEF press release
Date: 2005-Aug
A report presented an interim evaluation of a project to support community empowerment through light touch support and networking. It said that the existing policy emphasis on the neighbourhood was welcome: but real change would be needed in local authorities and other public bodies if systems and cultures of working were to deliver on the neighbourhoods agenda.
Source: Mandy Wilson, Pete Wilde, Derrick Purdue and Marilyn Taylor, Lending a Hand: The value of light touch support in empowering communities, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 430033)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2005-Aug
An audit report said that regeneration in Wales was being hampered by a complex approach and short-term funding systems. There was a need for greater co-ordination, clarity, and access to resources.
Source: Regeneration: A Simpler Approach for Wales, Wales Audit Office (029 2026 0260)
Links: Report (pdf) | WAO press release
Date: 2005-Aug
A guide provided detailed advice on how to evaluate a community project.
Source: Marilyn Taylor, Derrick Purdue, Mandy Wilson and Pete Wilde, Evaluating Community Projects: A practical guide, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 430033)
Links: Guide (pdf)
Date: 2005-Aug
A new book investigated the operation and outcomes of health action zones, one of the earliest and most high profile of the area-based social initiatives of the Labour government after 1997.
Source: Marian Barnes et al. (eds.), Health Action Zones: Partnerships for health equity, Routledge (01264 343071)
Links: Summary
Date: 2005-Aug
Researchers sought to establish comparative trends within areas covered by local Sure Start programmes in England, between 2000-01 and 2002-03. There were increases in most aspects of social service activity with families in Sure Start areas (referrals, registrations, section 47 enquiries, and numbers of looked after children); and increasing numbers of primary-aged children were being identified as having special educational needs. There was some evidence of a comparative improvement in child immunization rates. The rate of unemployment had also dropped more in Sure Start areas than in England as a whole.
Source: National Evaluation of Sure Start, Changes in the Characteristics of Sure Start Local Programme Areas in Rounds 1 to 4 Between 2000/2001 and 2002/2003, Report SFR008, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2005-Jul
A new book evaluated the development of a local Sure Start programme, and drew conclusions about best practice.
Source: Jo Weinberger, Caroline Pickstone and Peter Hannon, Learning from Sure Start: Working with young children and their families, Open University Press (01280 823388)
Links: Summary
Date: 2005-Jul
A report explored the role of urban parish and town councils in contributing to regeneration.
Source: Ines Newman, Parish and Town Councils and Neighbourhood Governance, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 430033)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary
Date: 2005-Jul
The government announced a funding allocation of ?1.05 billion to the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund for the two years 2006-2008. Of the 88 local authorities previously receiving funding, 6 had improved sufficiently to come off the list of most disadvantaged districts.
Source: Press release 21 July 2005, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (020 7944 3000)
Links: ODPM press release | LGA press release
Date: 2005-Jul
An article said that the Labour government used the term 'empowerment' to denote the engagement of local people in decision-making about the services and structures which affected their daily lives. Local participation was given as the distinctive feature of the New Deal for Communities. But little was known about what this meant in practice for the people affected.
Source: Adam Dinham, 'Empowered or over-powered? The real experiences of local participation in the UK's New Deal for Communities', Community Development Journal, Volume 40 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2005-Jul
An article said that the success of the new patterns of local governance depended on engaging communities in a range of partnerships at various geographic scales and administrative levels. In practice, this usually fell to a handful of community leaders in any given locality.
Source: Derrick Purdue, 'Community leadership cycles and the consolidation of neighbourhood coalitions in the new local governance', Public Management Review, Volume 7 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2005-Jun
A report said that there was often little agreement at the local or regional level about the exact infrastructure needed to make sustainable communities work.
Source: Delivering in the Growth Areas: Overcoming the barriers to regeneration, British Urban Regeneration Association (020 7539 4030)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2005-Jun
A collection of essays said that regeneration management was not easy, and required sophisticated mechanisms and measures.
Source: Regeneration Management: Essays on working with complexity, Centre for Local Economic Strategies (0131 650 9166)
Links: Summary
Date: 2005-May
An article discussed results from an evaluation of the 'Communities that Care' programme (set up in 1997 by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation). The programme was designed to provide evidence of 'risk and protection' for local communities, and help them target resources on reducing future social problems. Results showed that such a model looked "promising", although though there were substantial implementation issues that needed to be addressed.
Source: Alan France and Iain Crow, 'Using the risk factor paradigm in prevention: lessons from the evaluation of Communities that Care', Children & Society, Volume 19 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2005-Apr
An article reviewed case study data on Sure Start local programmes, collected as part of a national evaluation between 2002 and 2004.
Source: Jane Tunstill, Debbie Allnock, Sofie Akhurst and Claudia Garbers, 'Sure Start local programmes: implications of case study data from the national evaluation of Sure Start', Children & Society, Volume 19 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2005-Apr
A survey found an increase between 2002 and 2004 in the proportion of residents in New Deal for Communities areas who thought that the NDC partnership had improved their area (33 per cent to 51 per cent). Awareness of the NDC programme was more widespread (up from 63 per cent to 79 per cent).
Source: New Deal for Communities National Evaluation: An Overview of the 2002 and 2004 Household Surveys, Research Report 14, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (0870 1226 236)
Links: Report (pdf) | ODPM press release
Date: 2005-Mar
A study looked at the characteristics or assets of neighbourhoods which were key to sustainability, and how population movements affected sustainability. Relying on a combination of the market and welfare support to deal with declining neighbourhoods was costly and inequitable. A more effective alternative was a strategy of investment in social capital, environmental amenity and owner-occupied housing.
Source: Geoff Green, Mike Grimsley and Bernard Stafford, The Dynamics of Neighbourhood Sustainability, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 430033)
Links: Report (pdf) | JRF Findings 0145
Date: 2005-Mar
The government began consultation on a 'local enterprise growth initiative' to support enterprising activity and the creation of sustainable communities in deprived areas. The initiative would be worth 50 million in 2006-07, rising to 150 million per year by 2008-09. It would provide investment to support locally-developed and owned strategies to stimulate economic activity and productivity growth through enterprise development.
Source: Enterprise and Economic Opportunity in Deprived Areas, HM Treasury (020 7270 4558) and Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
Links: Consultation document (pdf) | Summary
Date: 2005-Mar
A research study sought to identify transferable lessons from the experience of the Estates Renewal Challenge Fund (1998-2000), which could inform future practice in schemes involving area-based regeneration and/or local authority housing disposals. (Under the ERCF, local authorities submitted bids for funding to underpin the ownership transfer of run-down estates to housing associations, as a means of achieving neighbourhood regeneration.)
Source: Learning Lessons from the Estates Renewal Challenge Fund, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (0870 1226 236)
Links: Summary (pdf)
Date: 2005-Mar
A research report evaluated community participation programmes, established to provide funding to stimulate and support community activity in deprived areas.
Source: Making Connections: An evaluation of the community participation programmes, Research Report 15, Neighbourhood Renewal Unit/Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (020 7944 8383)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf)
Date: 2005-Mar
A report examined financial solutions for owner-occupation in areas of housing decline, looking specifically at finding solutions for the three most common homeownership problems - affordable homeownership for existing residents; affordable accommodation for existing residents; and affordable homeownership for new and emerging households.
Source: The CHOIR Report: Creating New Home Ownership in Regeneration, Housing Corporation (020 7393 2000)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2005-Feb
An article examined community involvement in regeneration. The New Deal for Communities programme had directly involved residents in the governance of neighbourhood renewal with some success. However, community capacity had proved to be limited, adequate representation was difficult to achieve, and there had been friction with local government. Community empowerment had to be enabled and supported by getting the structures and processes right, and supporting community representatives.
Source: Fred Robinson, Keith Shaw and Gill Davidson, 'On the side of the angels: community involvement in the governance of neighbourhood renewal', Local Economy, Volume 20 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2005-Feb
A report examined the extent of faith community involvement in the New Deal for Communities programme. It said that faith communities were keen to have an active role in working with the programme and other neighbourhood renewal initiatives, on the basis of genuine engagement.
Source: Angoy Consultancy, Pilot Project on Faith Community Involvement in the New Deal for Communities, Neighbourhood Renewal Unit/Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (020 7944 8383)
Links: Report (large Word file)
Date: 2005-Feb
An audit report said that nine housing pathfinder projects (set up in the North and Midlands regions) needed to develop a stronger, more independent approach if they were to achieve long-term success.
Source: Housing Market Renewal, Audit Commission (0800 502030)
Links: Report | Audit Commission press release
Date: 2005-Feb
Countryside campaigners said that the reality of the government's sustainable communities plan was a long way from the rhetoric. Without an urgent change of course by all those involved in the plan's implementation, the countryside, urban regeneration and the quality of life of countless communities were set to suffer lasting damage.
Source: Sustainable Communities? The gap between rhetoric and reality in the sustainable communities plan, Campaign to Protect Rural England (020 7981 2800)
Links: Report (pdf) | CPRE press release
Date: 2005-Jan
Local authorities called for powers to raise funds locally to help foot the bill for major regeneration schemes. A range of radical options was set out, including allowing business taxes from new developments to be ploughed directly back into local communities rather than going to the Treasury.
Source: New Development and New Opportunities: New ideas for funding physical and social infrastructure, Local Government Association (020 7664 3000)
Links: Report (pdf) | LGA press release
Date: 2005-Jan
A report summarized a telephone survey of parents who had used a neighbourhood nursery at an early stage in the Neighbourhood Nurseries Initiative. Overall, satisfaction with the quality of provision and facilities available was high, although a third of parents said their nursery could improve dissemination of information to parents on children s progress. A linked report presented findings about the starting up and operation of the nurseries in the early stages of the development of the programme. (The Neighbourhood Nurseries Initiative aims to expand childcare provision in the 20 per cent most disadvantaged areas of England by creating 45,000 new daycare places for children aged 0-5.)
Source: Alice Bell and Ivana La Valle, Early Stages of the Neighbourhood Nurseries Initiative: Parents' Experiences, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260) | Teresa Smith and Caroline Lee with Sean Braswell, Kate Coxon, George Smith, Kathy Sylva and Emily Tanner, Early Stages of the Neighbourhood Nurseries Initiative: Opening the Nurseries, Department for Education and Skills
Links: Report - parents (pdf) | Brief - parents (pdf) | Report - opening (pdf) | Brief - opening (pdf)
Date: 2005-Jan
A report said that the government s housing renewal programmes, affecting around one million homes, should take account of the unique social and architectural history of each place, of what local people valued, and of the qualities which once made it a successful community.
Source: Low Demand Housing and the Historic Environment, English Heritage (0870 333 1181)
Links: Report (pdf) | English Heritage press release
Date: 2005-Jan
Local authorities said that a radical devolution of power, and a strengthening of local leadership, were critical if local neighbourhoods were to be revived. It argued that a one size fits all approach to local government would not work, and called for greater freedom for councils to determine, in consultation with local communities, what arrangements best suited local circumstances.
Source: Stronger Political Leadership, Better Local Government, Local Government Association (020 7664 3000)
Links: Report (pdf) | LGA press release
Date: 2005-Jan
A report examined progress on the aims set out in the national neighbourhood renewal strategy. Key improvements identified included: the gap between the average pass rate for 5 good GCSEs (A*-C) in the 88 most deprived areas and England as a whole had narrowed between 1997 and 2003; employment in those 88 areas had increased by 1.7 percentage points since 1997, compared to 1.4 points nationally; teenage pregnancy rates had dropped more quickly in the 88 areas than in the rest of England; and burglary, robbery and vehicle crime rates were decreasing. (Launched in 2001, the neighbourhood renewal strategy supported the objective that by 2021 no one should be disadvantaged by where they lived, by closing the gap between the disadvantaged areas and the rest.)
Source: Making it Happen in Neighbourhoods: The national strategy for neighbourhood renewal Four years on, Neighbourhood Renewal Unit/Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (0870 1226 236)
Links: Report (pdf) | ODPM press release
Date: 2005-Jan
The government published a discussion document aimed at enhancing the role of local neighbourhoods. It included proposals for a 'neighbourhoods charter', designed to enable people in particular neighbourhoods, in partnership with local authorities and other stakeholders, to help shape and drive improvements in the services they received.
Source: Citizen Engagement and Public Services: Why neighbourhoods matter, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (0870 1226 236)
Links: Discussion paper (pdf) | ODPM press release | LGA press release | NALC press release
Date: 2005-Jan
The government renewed its commitment to the goal that by 2021 no-one in England should be seriously disadvantaged by the area in which they lived. It proposed a range of measures, building on the lessons from the 2001 neighbourhood renewal strategy. These involved revitalizing local economies by tackling unemployment and economic inactivity; stabilizing communities and improving housing and the local environment; improving the performance of public services, and delivering support more effectively to deprived areas.
Source: Improving the Prospects of People Living in Areas of Multiple Deprivation in England, Strategy Unit/Cabinet Office (020 7276 1881) and Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
Links: Report (pdf) | SU press release
Date: 2005-Jan
Researchers used a small number of case studies in England and Scotland to try to estimate the extent to which mainstream public spending budgets were being targeted on the most deprived areas, giving some indication of how this had changed since 1995.
Source: Glen Bramley et al., Mainstream Public Services and their Impact on Neighbourhood Deprivation, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (0870 1226 236)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf)
Date: 2005-Jan
A report presented the findings of a national evaluation of the neighbourhood management pathfinder programme's second full year, in 2003-04. Deprived neighbourhoods required large-scale improvements in many of their mainstream public services: the pathfinder neighbourhood management approach could deliver some benefits, but might not be able to deliver this scale of change without significantly more support and flexibility from service providers.
Source: SQW Limited et al., Neighbourhood Management Pathfinder Programme National Evaluation: Annual review 2003/04, Neighbourhood Renewal Unit/Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (020 7944 8383)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf)
Date: 2005-Jan
A study contained a demonstration of a simple simulation model to estimate the spatial impacts of social policies. It identified the main reasons for the paucity of geographical microsimulation work; discussed the conceptual and practical issues; explained the differences between static and dynamic microsimulation; reviewed the literature on geographical microsimulation; and summarized other methods that had been used for the geographical analysis of survey data, as well as other data.
Source: Dimitris Ballas, David Rossiter, Bethan Thomas, Graham Clarke and Danny Dorling, Geography Matters: Simulating the local impacts of national social policies, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 430033)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary
Date: 2005-Jan
An article explored the context of official support for faith involvement in urban and neighbourhood policy, and identified the assumptions underlying key policy documents. Attempts to enlist faith groups within a consensual agenda often failed to recognize both the potential divisiveness of religion and also the more positive and radical lessons that often stemmed from the action, experience and critical analysis of religious organizations and their members.
Source: Robert Furbey and Marie Macey, 'Religion and urban regeneration: A place for faith?', Policy & Politics, Volume 33 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2005-Jan
A report examined the local impacts of housing, environment and regeneration policy since 1997.
Source: Caroline Paskell and Anne Power, 'The Future's Changed': Local impacts of housing, environment and regeneration policy since 1997, CASEreport 29, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion/London School of Economics (020 7955 6679)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2005-Jan
Researchers evaluated pilots designed to explore potential opportunities and constraints for reshaping mainstream services to meet the needs of the Sure Start client groups more effectively. Most projects were found to have achieved their aims and initiated at least some degree of mainstream change by the end of their funding period. In most cases, these projects were expected to have a long-term positive impact in improving service delivery as well as generating benefits for client groups.
Source: Geoff White, Jenny Swift and Anita Bennett, Sure Start Mainstreaming Pilots: What can we learn?, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report (pdf) | Brief (pdf)
Date: 2005-Jan
A study looked at the effectiveness of the Investors in Communities system (a standards-based recognition system for residents groups, housing associations and local authorities) during the pilot phase of its implementation.
Source: Sean Baine, Sheila Camp and John Eversley, Investors in Communities: Final evaluation report on pilot phase, Chartered Institute of Housing (024 7685 1700) for Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Links: Report (pdf) | JRF Findings 0035 | CIH press release
Date: 2005-Jan
Researchers evaluated early evidence from 'mini' Sure Start programmes - 43 local programmes designed for small communities in scattered rural areas and pockets of deprivation in urban and rural areas, each with a target population of approximately 150 children under 4.
Source: Sara Glennie, Gill Treseder, Janet Williams and Mike Williams, Mini Sure Start Local Programmes: An Overview of their Early Implementation, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2005-Jan
A report presented findings from case studies carried out as part of the national evaluation of Sure Start local programmes. The data revealed a high level of satisfaction and enthusiasm on the part of parents who lived in local programme areas and who had come into contact, on either a shorter or longer-term basis, with the programmes. A linked report presented an in-depth picture of the individual services being delivered by the first 260 local programmes.
Source: National Evaluation of Sure Start, Implementing Sure Start Local Programmes: An in-depth study, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260) | National Evaluation of Sure Start, Implementing Sure Start Local Programmes: An in-depth Study (Part two: A close up on services), Department for Education and Skills
Links: Report (pdf) | Part 2 Report (pdf)
Date: 2005-Jan
A document outlined how the spending review for the period 2005-2008 would affect neighbourhood renewal, through new targets in areas including health inequalities, education, crime and housing.
Source: Smarter Delivery, Better Neighbourhoods, Neighbourhood Renewal Unit/Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (0870 1226 236)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2005-Jan
An article examined what current theory and evidence had to teach about how local governance should be changed in order to make it more conducive to human emancipation. It assessed the potential for democratization at community level, given the 'persistence of oligarchy', and suggested ways to build countervailing power in order to promote democratization.
Source: Peter Somerville, 'Community governance and democracy', Policy & Politics, Volume 33 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2005-Jan
An article examined the role of partnerships in urban regeneration. It concluded that the partnership ideal was a useful policy device, but that it had to be thought through more clearly and applied in specific contexts, rather than seen as the best and universally applicable model of urban regeneration.
Source: Michael Ball and Paul Maginn, 'Urban change and conflict: Evaluating the role of partnerships in urban regeneration in the UK', Housing Studies, Volume 20 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2005-Jan