A report by a committee of the National Assembly for Wales endorsed a proposed new law that was designed to broaden participation in local government, and to give community councils the flexibility to do more for their local communities.
Source: Proposed Local Government (Wales) Measure, Legislation Committee No 3/National Assembly for Wales
Links: Report | NAW press release
Date: 2010-Dec
A report said that the Communities First regeneration programme had to work better with other regeneration initiatives in order to meet the wider outcomes needed to improve the conditions of people living in the most deprived neighbourhoods in Wales.
Source: Stephen Hincks and Brian Robson, Regenerating Communities First Neighbourhoods in Wales, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Links: Report | Summary | JRF press release | BBC report
Date: 2010-Oct
An article examined the implications of the 2007-08 'Network Change' programme on the spatial configuration of post offices in Wales. National guidelines on the provision of post offices were not met in Wales.
Source: Mitchel Langford and Gary Higgs, 'Accessibility and public service provision: evaluating the impacts of the Post Office Network Change Programme in the UK', Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, Volume 35 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Oct
An article examined the Welsh Assembly Government's consultation on social cohesion strategy. Strong and cohesive communities were presented in the consultation document as both the cause of, and the solution to, social dislocation, although it was implied that cohesive minority communities were really the problem. 'Mixed' communities were proposed as a remedy – although minority populations were already more ethnically mixed than the majority 'white' population. The very wealthy were the most segregated group: but this was not discussed as a problem. The consultation failed to identify those policies which actively undermined social cohesion. Neither 'community' nor cohesion was clearly defined, and ideas of equality were confused with social integration.
Source: Robert Moore, 'The Welsh Assembly Government's social cohesion strategy: a world without sociology?', Contemporary Wales, Volume 23 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Sep
An article drew on a study of Communities First, an area-based regeneration policy in Wales, to explore barriers to community empowerment. These barriers included issues of community capacity, institutional capacity, organizational cultures, and regulatory frameworks. Such barriers could prevail even within a highly participative policy framework such as Communities First.
Source: David Adamson, 'Community empowerment: identifying the barriers to "purposeful" citizen participation', International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, Volume 30 Issue 3/4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Apr
A survey examined four communities in 'deep rural' Wales. 94 per cent of respondents rated their quality of life as either 'very good' or 'fairly good'. But 36 per cent of residents rated general service provision in their local area as 'poor' or 'very poor'. 63 per cent rated the provision of hospitals as 'poor' or 'very poor'.
Source: Deep Rural Localities, Wales Rural Observatory
Links: Report | Summary | BBC report
Date: 2010-Mar
A report by a committee of the National Assembly for Wales said that the 'Communities First' programme – designed to tackle deprivation and improve the living conditions and prospects for people in the most disadvantaged communities across Wales – had not delivered good value for the significant amount of public money spent on it. This was largely because of weaknesses in the Welsh Government's construction and management of the programme.
Source: Communities First, Public Accounts Committee/National Assembly for Wales
Links: Report | BBC report
Date: 2010-Feb
