An article examined attempts to enhance social capital, reduce negative area effects, and improve life chances in deprived neighbourhoods by promoting social diversity. The management of perceived, and actual, risks to social cohesion from some poorer households was a central concern in the promotion of socially diverse neighbourhoods.
Source: Joanne Bretherton and Nicholas Pleace, 'A difficult mix: issues in achieving socioeconomic diversity in deprived United Kingdom neighbourhoods', Urban Studies, Volume 48 Number 16
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Dec
The Scottish Government published a regeneration strategy, designed to help tackle local deprivation and poverty. It included details of a £50 million fund providing loans for regeneration projects. A Bill would come before the Scottish Parliament in 2013-14, making it easier for communities to take on ownership of unused and underused publicly owned assets.
Source: Achieving a Sustainable Future: Regeneration Strategy, Scottish Government
Links: Strategy | Scottish Government press release | BBC report
Date: 2011-Dec
A report said that area-based initiatives offered an important way to respond to the challenges and possibilities posed by disadvantaged areas. It considered how schools and their partners might act within the new 'localist' policy environment, and provided examples of innovative initiatives.
Source: Alan Dyson and Kirstin Kerr, Taking Action Locally: Schools developing innovative area initiatives, Centre for Equity in Education (University of Manchester)
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Nov
A report by a committee of MPs said that the coalition government had no adequate strategy on regeneration to address the complex problems faced by England's most deprived communities. If further resources for regeneration were not found, there was a risk that major problems would be stored up for the future.
Source: Regeneration, Sixth Report (Session 2010-12), HC 1014, House of Commons Communities and Local Government Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report | Additional written evidence | DCLG press release | CIEH press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Inside Housing report | Public Finance report
Date: 2011-Nov
A report gave practitioners' perspectives on neighbourhood regeneration in European cities. It suggested making it easier to combine funding from the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund to ensure an integrated approach to regeneration.
Source: Frank Wassenberg and Koos van Dijken, A Practitioner's View on Neighbourhood Regeneration: Issues, approaches and experiences in European cities, Nicis Institute (Netherlands)
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Nov
A new book examined how one local authority (the London Borough of Haringey) had responded to central government aspirations for greater community involvement in planning (in the 1970s) and regeneration (from the late 1980s onwards), before looking in detail at the implementation of New Labour's neighbourhood renewal and local governance policy (1997-2010).
Source: Denis Dillon and Bryan Fanning, Lessons for the Big Society: Planning, regeneration and the politics of community participation, Ashgate Publications
Links: Summary
Date: 2011-Oct
A report examined the planning and delivery of the physical regeneration legacy associated with the 2012 London Olympic Games. The project scored highly against the criteria deemed to be most important to securing a positive physical regeneration legacy. However, there were several issues that needed to be addressed. These included the integration of the Olympic Park with surrounding areas, the need for increased emphasis on projects that would benefit east London more widely, and a clearer plan for the transformation of the Park following the Games.
Source: Andrew Smith, Nancy Stevenson, and Tim Edmundson, The 2012 Games: The Regeneration Legacy, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
Links: Report | RICS press release
Date: 2011-Oct
A new book examined Sure Start, a flagship programme of the former Labour governments (1997-2010). It looked at how Sure Start was set up, the numerous changes it went through, and how it had changed the landscape of services for young children in England.
Source: Naomi Eisenstadt, Providing a Sure Start: How government discovered early childhood, Policy Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2011-Sep
A report examined the scope and nature of the outputs and longer-term outcomes that arose from town centre regeneration.
Source: Douglas Wheeler Associates Ltd, with Slims Consulting and Ryden Avril Blamey & Associates, Town Centre Regeneration: How Does It Work & What Can Be Achieved?, Scottish Government
Links: Report | Summary | Appendices
Date: 2011-Sep
A literature review examined the role of the community and social governance in community-led regeneration. There was confusion and ambiguity with regard to the terminology used in describing approaches to community-led regeneration: the literature reflected differences in interpretation of the terms community 'engagement', 'participation', and 'empowerment'. Structural and socio-economic barriers existed that had the potential to distance individuals and communities from involvement in community-led regeneration: these barriers were not uniform but were multi-faceted and fluid.
Source: Patricia Campbell, Community-Led Regeneration: A Review of Literature, Scottish Government
Links: Literature review | Summary
Date: 2011-Sep
An article looked at urban regeneration in Belfast (Northern Ireland) as a stage on which the interaction between different structural dynamics (political, economic, and cultural) was manifested. It considered whether regeneration had the potential to transform the dynamic of deep-rooted ethno-national divisions.
Source: Liam O Dowd and Milena Komarova, 'Contesting territorial fixity? A case study of regeneration in Belfast', Urban Studies, Volume 48 Number 10
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Aug
An article examined the experiences of different women on a New Deal for Communities (NDC) board, including those from minority-ethnic groups. The NDC in the case study provided optimism about the possibility of including diverse groups and people in neighbourhood governance: but too little attention was still given at both national policy and neighbourhood levels to working politically and productively with concepts of ethnicity and gender.
Source: Yasminah Beebeejaun and Lucy Grimshaw, 'Is the "New Deal for Communities" a New Deal for Equality? Getting women on board in neighbourhood governance', Urban Studies, Volume 48 Number 10
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Aug
An article examined the lessons that the United Kingdom could learn from urban renewal and regeneration projects undertaken in developing countries.
Source: Raphael Heffron and Paul Haynes, 'Improving urban regeneration in the UK: lessons from the developing world', Journal of Urban Regeneration and Renewal, Volume 5 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Aug
The Welsh Assembly Government began consultation on new structures for delivering the Communities First programme, with a greater focus on evidencing the impact of locally funded activities. There would be more consistent governance and financial accountability across the programme, with 'clear and consistent' demarcation of roles and responsibilities.
Source: Communities First: The Future, Welsh Assembly Government
Links: Consultation document | WAG press release | BBC report
Notes: The Communities First programme was launched in 2001 to involve local people in the work of regenerating the most deprived communities in Wales.
Date: 2011-Jul
An article used qualitative data from three urban authorities to investigate how far children's centres differed from Sure Start local programmes, and how far they were more recognizably similar to one another than were Sure Start local programmes. Although children's centres differed from Sure Start local programmes in significant respects, they also differed from one another.
Source: Jane Lewis, Jonathan Roberts, and Cathy Finnegan, 'Making the transition from Sure Start local programmes to children's centres, 2003-2008', Journal of Social Policy, Volume 40 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Notes: Sure Start local programmes were an area-based early intervention scheme for children under 5 in England, set up in 1998: they were replaced in 2003 by children's centres – a universal, mainstream service under the control of local authorities.
Date: 2011-Jul
An article examined the gendered nature of partnership working within regeneration policy in England, based on a case study of a New Deal for Communities Partnership.
Source: Lucy Grimshaw, 'Community work as women's work? The gendering of English neighbourhood partnerships', Community Development Journal, Volume 46 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Jul
The government began consultation on a new statement of the 'core purpose' of Sure Start children's centres. It defined their core purpose as:
• Child development and school readiness – supporting emotional, physical, and social development so that children started school confident and able to learn.
• Parenting aspirations and parenting skills – helping parents to maximize their skills and give their children the best start.
• Child and family health and life-chances – promoting good physical and mental health for children and their parents, including addressing risk factors early on.
Source: The 'Core Purpose' of Sure Start Children's Centres, Department for Education
Links: Consultation document | DE press release | Liberal Democrats press release | Daycare Trust press release | 4Children press release
Date: 2011-Jul
An article examined the implications of the New Deal for Communities (NDC) Programme (launched by the previous Labour government in 1998) for community-level decision making, a theme central to the coalition government's 'Big Society'. The NDC experience pointed to problems including: intra-community strife, lack of engagement, and incorrect perceptions by community representatives about the scale of local problems.
Source: Paul Lawless, 'Big Society and community: lessons from the 1998- 2011 New Deal for Communities Programme in England', People, Place & Policy, Volume 5 Issue 2
Links: Article
Date: 2011-Jul
A report examined economic issues arising out of the evaluation of the impact of Sure Start local programmes in England. On average, the programmes cost around £1,300 per eligible child per year at 2009-10 prices. By the time children reached the age of 5, the programmes had already delivered economic benefits of between £279 and £557 per eligible child. The economic benefits of early childhood interventions could be high (and much higher than for interventions with similar levels of expenditure on adults): but they typically did not emerge until at least 15 years after the intervention began.
Source: National Evaluation of Sure Start Team (led by Pam Meadows), National Evaluation of Sure Start Local Programmes: An Economic Perspective, Research Report RR073, Department for Education
Date: 2011-Jul
An article examined outcomes from the New Deal for Communities programme in England. Data pointed to only modest change, much of which reflected improving attitudes towards the area and the environment. There were problems in identifying positive people-based outcomes because relatively few individuals benefited from relevant initiatives. Few positive benefits 'leaked out' of NDC areas. Transformational change was always unlikely bearing in mind the limited nature of additional resources, and because only a minority of individuals directly engaged with NDC projects.
Source: Paul Lawless, 'Understanding the scale and nature of outcome change in area-regeneration programmes: evidence from the New Deal for Communities programme in England', Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, Volume 29 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Jun
A paper examined the evidence on the role of culture in regenerating neighbourhoods.
Source: Nick Ennis and Gordon Douglass, Culture and Regeneration: What evidence is there of a link and how can it be measured?, Working Paper 48, Greater London Authority
Links: Paper
Date: 2011-May
A report examined short- to medium-term outcomes for people who moved away from, and people who remained in, neighbourhoods experiencing major regeneration and demolition (based on a study in Glasgow, Scotland).
Source: Moving Out, Moving On? Short to medium term outcomes from relocation through regeneration in Glasgow, GoWell (Glasgow Centre for Population Health)
Links: Report
Date: 2011-May
A report evaluated the child development grant (CDG) pilot – aimed at encouraging economically deprived and disengaged parents through (cash) incentives to utilize the services offered by their local Sure Start children's centres (in particular those services that had a positive impact on the child's development and family).
Source: Philip Wilson, Louise O Neill, Andrew Cleary, and Toby Cotton, Evaluation of the Child Development Grant Pilot, Research Report RR099, Department for Education
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Apr
A report examined the role of regeneration policies in tackling worklessness. The neighbourhood level was an appropriate level for outreach to disadvantaged residents, and the voluntary sector could play an important role in facilitating community participation. But partnerships had been costly to develop and support, and had not generated the critical mass of support for the neighbourhoods that had been envisaged.
Source: Anne Green, Addressing the Problem of Worklessness: The Role of Regeneration, Department for Communities and Local Government
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Mar
An article examined the community empowerment programme in England between 2001 and 2008, and identified lessons for the future. The original ambition of the programme – to empower communities to become equal partners in the task of neighbourhood renewal – had been undermined by inconsistent central government policy and opposition from local authorities. But the programme did pioneer and promote new participative methods that were increasingly commonplace. Future empowerment policies needed to be made available to the most deprived communities.
Source: John Houghton and Toby Blume, 'Poverty, power and policy dilemmas: lessons from the community empowerment programme in England', Journal of Urban Regeneration and Renewal, Volume 4 Number 3
Date: 2011-Mar
A report examined the weaknesses of previous approaches to regeneration. It highlighted the over-dominance of centralized structures, the neglect of education and training in deprived areas, and the need for greater clarity over the role and relevance of area-based initiatives. Local capacity would only develop if greater scope and freedom were given to local actors to make their own priorities.
Source: Stephen Syrett, Regeneration: How Should the Problem Be Addressed?, Department for Communities and Local Government
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Mar
An article examined way in which communities and collective action could contribute to the development of neighbourhoods, focusing on the idea of mutualism.
Source: Rob Rowlands, 'Recognising ownership in regeneration: developing a mutual neighbourhood', Journal of Urban Regeneration and Renewal, Volume 4 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Mar
An audit report said that the government needed to determine how to invest limited resources most effectively to support the resilience of failed housing market areas. It said that the housing market renewal pathfinder programme, which was due to be closed down by the government at the end of March 2011, had made a 'substantial contribution to improve housing and economic circumstances in local areas' – leading to rising house prices, fewer empty homes, and a reduction in crime.
Source: Housing Market Renewal: Programme Review 2010, Audit Commission
Links: Report | Audit Commission press release | Inside Housing report
Date: 2011-Mar
An article examined the form that neighbourhood regeneration in England might take during the next decade – in an environment characterized by resource constraints, organizational change, uncertainty, and upheaval. New opportunities included: a more powerful position for voluntary and community sector organizations with the greatest capacity; new forms of collaboration between neighbourhood regeneration organizations; and the development of new relationships between commissioners and service delivery organizations.
Source: Kevin Broughton, Nigel Berkeley, and David Jarvis, 'Where next for neighbourhood regeneration in England?', Local Economy, Volume 26 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Mar
A new book identified best practice in sustainable urban regeneration in five major cities in Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
Source: Andrea Colantonio and Tim Dixon, Urban Regeneration & Social Sustainability: Best practice from European cities, Wiley
Links: Summary
Date: 2011-Mar
A report examined the problems faced in the New Deal for Communities partnership areas, and considered both the process and change outcomes that regeneration programmes should seek to achieve.
Source: Paul Lawless, Regeneration: What Are the Problems and What Can We Achieve in Addressing them? Neighbourhood level perspectives from the NDC Programme, Department for Communities and Local Government
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Mar
A paper examined the key challenges, opportunities, and priorities for regeneration policy in Scotland. Despite some progress, there were persistent problems associated with poverty and deprivation.
Source: Building a Sustainable Future: Regeneration discussion paper, Scottish Government
Links: Paper | Scottish Government press release
Date: 2011-Feb
An article examined the nature of the 'core offer' that children's centres were expected to provide, and the way in which they had pursued the goal of integrating staff and services. It highlighted the problems of balancing a focus on the child and on the parent; of reconciling childcare provision as part of the employability agenda and as a means to educational achievement for the child; of permitting local variation while achieving consistency; of the role of monitoring in relation to developing good practice; and of achieving integration in a mixed economy of care. Despite the greater specification of the core offer for children's centres compared with that for Sure Start, there were substantial differences between children's centres in terms of services, while the mixed economy of provision posed considerable challenges to the goal of integration.
Source: Jane Lewis, Rebecca Cuthbert, and Sophie Sarre, 'What are children's centres? The development of CC services, 2004-2008', Social Policy and Administration, Volume 45 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Feb
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on Sure Start children's centres. It said that it recognized the importance of children's centres, and believed that they had 'huge potential' as they brought together services in new and innovative ways. The network of children's centres was critical to its wider programme for children and families across government.
Source: Sure Start Children's Centres: Government Response to the Fifth Report from the Children, Schools and Families Committee, Session 2009 10, Fourth Special Report (Session 2010-11), HC 768, House of Commons Education Select Committee, TSO
Links: Response | NCT press release | Children & Young People Now report
Notes: The MPs' report (March 2010) had called on the government to resist short-term financial pressure to reduce the number of Sure Start centres or the range of services that they offered.
Date: 2011-Jan
A survey of Sure Start children's centre managers across England found that, over the next 12 months: 250 (7 per cent) would close or were expected to close, affecting an estimated 60,000 families; 2,000 (56 per cent) would provide a reduced service; 3,100 (86 per cent) would have a decreased budget; and staff at 1,000 centres (28 per cent) had been issued with 'at risk of redundancy' notices.
Source: Press release 28 January 2011, 4Children
Links: 4Children press release | Labour Party press release | BBC report | Telegraph report | Children & Young People Now report | Community Care report
Date: 2011-Jan
A report examined the evolution of the Sure Start programme. It said that there was strong evidence to support early intervention, given the nature and extent of the disadvantage and discrimination that many families faced. It highlighted the ways in which initiatives such as children's centres could provide support for vulnerable families, and provide the basis for 'community hubs' within a 'Big Society'.
Source: The Right Start: Sure Start, early intervention and the needs of vulnerable and disadvantaged children and families, Pre-school Learning Alliance
Links: Summary
Date: 2011-Jan
An article highlighted the 'considerable change' involved in the transition from the Sure Start programme (targeted at deprived areas) to the universal provision of children's centres. It explored the reasons for the policy shift in terms of changes in the government's goals (on the one hand), and in relation to evidence of programme failure (on the other). It considered why the shift to children's centres was claimed by the government as continuity rather than change, and what this revealed about the nature of policy change.
Source: Jane Lewis, 'From Sure Start to children's centres: an analysis of policy change in English early years programmes', Journal of Social Policy, Volume 40 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Jan
An article reported an ethnographic study into the experiences of parents and professionals involved with the implementation of a Sure Start multi-agency health and education early years programme. The policy shift to children's centres appeared to have entailed an erosion of social capital – contrary to the original purpose of empowering local communities.
Source: Carl Bagley, 'From Sure Start to children's centres: capturing the erosion of social capital', Journal of Education Policy, Volume 26 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Jan