BMBC 21: Barnsleys Local Area Agreement 2008-2011

within communities on a range of issues, in a way that the publicservices are unable to do. This has ensured that the community’s voicehas become central to the way services are delivered and developed.It has ensured that the community has not become disconnected frompublic services. Building on this sound foundation, there is a strongrecognition of the need to create and sustain a thriving third sectoracross the Borough.Improving inclusion and cohesion, and empowering communities toimprove services in their area is paramount. However, there are alsofundamental barriers to engaging in, and benefiting from, the positivechanges in Barnsley, such as financial exclusion. Improved financialinclusion, for example, underpins access to work and impacts on qualityof life. The need to improve people’s financial capability, increaseaccess to legal advice and the availability of, and access to, affordablecredit and banking services are key areas for improvement.Community cohesion is about how different people in the boroughintegrate and get on with one another, so it is relevant to almost everyarea of activity, and complements the approach to communityengagement.Community cohesion is not a new issue, but it is a relatively recentphrase in government terminology. Understanding of it is changingrapidly. For many people, the term community cohesion is unclear. Itcan mean different things to different people, and the subject iscomplicated and often contentious. In particular, it is often confusedwith race relations or seen as relating only to minority groups andimmigrants rather than the whole community. However, it is much morethan this and central to achieving this outcome. The work of theGovernment’s Commission on Integration and Cohesion has set out anew definition and vision for cohesive communities.The definition includes not just the desired result, but also the processof arriving at it. In devising an action plan to support the local Strategy,it is important to acknowledge that the bringing together of groups andagencies to work towards shared goals of cohesion is, in itself, aprocess of cohesion.OUR APPROACH: WHAT ARE WE CURRENTLYTRYING TO DO TO DELIVER IMPROVEMENTThe approach builds on a strong history and investment in SocialInclusion, community capacity building and community development,without which effective community empowerment, cohesion andenterprise are unlikely to be achieved. However, it is also recognisedthat there is a need to improve community engagement practice,alongside deepening the understanding of the process of communitycohesion. As such, two key One Barnsley Strategies have beendeveloped, building upon the Social Inclusion Framework to addresscohesion and empowerment with imaginative and resourced actionplans.61Building Cohesive & Enterprising Communities Barnsley’s Local Area Agreement 2008-11