BMBC 21: Barnsleys Local Area Agreement 2008-2011

common goals without imposing negative externalities on the rest ofsociety.Furthermore, it is important to consider the links between activeparticipation in communities and the number of voluntary organisations,which are indicators of social capital. The dynamic of social capital,health and economy can both influence the reported social capital oflong term residents and encourage migration into an area of peoplewith higher levels of social capital. Barnsley’s strategy stronglyrecommends investment in social capital as a key intervention.The Community Engagement and Empowerment strategy will set outthe approach to ensuring the community is supported and involved inthe ongoing renewal of their neighbourhoods and shaping the future ofthe Borough. This will include revised arrangements at aneighbourhood level providing residents with real opportunities to holdservice providers to account and influence decisions affecting theirlocality. A key aspect of this will be the evolving, new NeighbourhoodsFramework.An example of good practice in this area is the work in Kendray, whereresidents are fully involved in making decisions about the way certainservices are delivered in their area. Neighbourhood Management hasshown that by sharing the responsibility for making decisions betweenthe community and service providers, a more enterprising communityhas developed. This has resulted in improved living standards andgreater levels of satisfaction. The success of such programmes haslargely been due to the commitment and confidence of both serviceproviders and the community working together to improve their area.Community Engagement practice was identified as a key improvementarea by the South Yorkshire local authorities, as a part of the RegionalImprovement and Efficiency Strategy. Barnsley has led thisimprovement programme and worked closely with the NationalEmpowerment Partnership in Yorkshire and the Humber to shape anddeliver this agenda. These have been encapsulated in theEngagement Strategy Action Plan, and include development andtraining opportunities in themes covered in the National CommunityEmpowerment Action Plan, such as Participatory Budgeting,Neighbourhood Agreements, Community Engagement Standards, andCommunity Anchor Organisations. Learning and exchange seminarsare planned alongside a major regional champions of participationworkshop for key policy makers and practitioners to help deepenunderstanding of community engagement and empowermentprocesses and contribute to influencing the delivery of the CommunityEmpowerment White Paper.Before any community engagement activity is undertaken within theborough all those responsible for conducting the engagement must plantheir activities. This will reduce the amount of over-consultation andengagement fatigue that has occurred in certain areas of the boroughand within some groups. The national standards for community64Building Cohesive & Enterprising Communities Barnsley’s Local Area Agreement 2008-11