'Only a footstep away' - Skills for Care - Think Local Act Personal

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84 local authority areas. Included in theSSCF is the Neighbourhood Element whichprovides funding for 100 of the mostdisadvantaged neighbourhoods in Englandto improve the quality of life for peopleliving in them, and to ensure serviceproviders are more responsive toneighbourhood needs. Both NR and SSCFare good examples of Barnes’scommunity-level interventions.4.13 Perhaps the main nationalprogramme impinging directly onworkforce development has been theestablishment of NeighbourhoodManagement (NM), an approachdeveloped by the Social Exclusion Unit’sPolicy Action Team as a means of securingneighbourhood level action to improveservice delivery. The first 20Neighbourhood Management Pathfinderswere announced in July 2001, and asecond round of 15 in December 2003.4.14 Although NM is seen as a way ofencouraging service providers to improveservices in deprived neighbourhoods, italso has a potential role in developingsocial capital and community cohesion. Inparticular it employs a neighbourhoodmanager, supported by a small team, totake overall responsibility at this local level.In addition to the Pathfinders, otherlocalities have developed their own NMschemes drawing upon theNeighbourhood Element (NE) of SSCF—around 80% of local authorities (in around500 neighbourhoods) in receipt of NRF orNE are estimated to be operating suchschemes. Given the heavy financialdependence upon NE, the end of thissource of funding will be a key test of localcommitment.4.15 There has been some evaluation ofthe NM Pathfinders (DCLG 2010b; 2008b).Most of the initiatives covered the followingcomponents:‘Only a footstep away’? 14• use as a tool for facilitating therenewal of deprived neighbourhoods• an initial focus upon crime andenvironmental issues• an average target area size below15,000 (some well aboveconventional definitions of a‘neighbourhood’)• an emphasis upon influencingservice providers rather thanengaging in direct service delivery• engagement with a variety ofpartners, notably the police, localauthority, PCT and housingassociations; leadership ispredominantly by the local authority• widespread recognition of theimportance of involving thecommunity.4.16 Nevertheless the evaluators arecautious in their assessment of the impactof NM, observing that it is a challenge toidentify and evaluate measurable impacts,not least in the absence of systematic andcomprehensive small area administrativedata.4.17 The role of policing inneighbourhoods has become hugelysignificant since the publication of theFlanagan Review (Flanagan 2008). Thisproposed that neighbourhood policingshould be at the core of policing inEngland and Wales, as it would help to:• increase community confidence inthe police• increase community involvement inshaping priorities• increase partnership working• promote community cohesion.4.18 Subsequently the Home Officepublished a new strategy on
neighbourhood policing (HO 2010) whichsets out a vision of safe and confidentneighbourhoods everywhere in which allmembers of the public can expect:• to continue to benefit from theirnamed, dedicated neighbourhoodpolicing team including PoliceCommunity Support Officers(PCSOs)• victims to receive a joined upresponse from the police, localcouncil and criminal justice• to be able to have a say in howservices keep them safe andconfident and be able to challengeagencies if expectations are not met• to be confident and able to engagein playing their full role in their ownneighbourhood’s safety.4.19 Importantly, the strategy states thatto keep neighbourhoods truly safe andconfident, the police cannot act alone. It isexpected that all key agencies – health,local council and children’s services – willhave clearly identified lead contacts forneighbourhood policing teams. Moreover,the previous government had funded 12areas (and supported a further 100) indeveloping Neighbourhood Agreements tosupport communities in negotiating whatpolice services can do for them to keepneighbourhoods safe and confident. Interms of workforce development, there is aproposal for further professionalisingneighbourhood policing through trainingand leadership support and a PCSOaccreditation. The main party manifestos allreflected an emphasis on neighbourhoodpolicing themes. The Conservative Partystated a commitment to giving people“democratic control over policing priorities”to empower local communities, whileLabour pledged to establishneighbourhood police teams in every areawith accountability to local people throughmonthly public meetings.4.20 Finally, in the recent publicationPutting the Frontline First (HMG 2009) theLabour government proposed a further raftof measures that bear uponneighbourhoods and the generation ofsocial capital. These include:• Neighbourhood Agreements to bepiloted by the Home Office, whichwill give the public in a local areamore say about how issues wherethey live can best be tackled, andlead to allocations of resources thatbetter reflect community priorities.• The Community Assets Programmewill aim to empower communities byencouraging the transfer of underusedlocal authority assets to localorganisations.• Social Impact Bonds aim to attractnon-government investment intolocal activities with returnsgenerated from a proportion of therelated reduction in governmentspending on acute services.• Social Investment Wholesale Bankto provide capital to organisationsdelivering social impact to supportthe sustainability of socialenterprises.• Civic Health Index to enable peopleto assess how well civic society isfaring and how it can be enabled tothrive.national non-statutory sectorprogrammes4.21 There are several relevant nonstatutorysector programmes that havesome national profile. Perhaps the bestknown of these are time banks,pledgebanks and lifetime neighbourhoods.‘Only a footstep away’? 15
Page 1 and 2: we identifynew andinnovativeways of
Page 3 and 4: acknowledgementsThis paper was comm
Page 5 and 6: executive summary1. This paper is a
Page 7 and 8: 1 introduction1.1 This report is a
Page 9 and 10: LD 2010). The agreement was intende
Page 11 and 12: Abrams notes that the placing of re
Page 13 and 14: neighbourhood.” (Blackman 2006, 2
Page 15 and 16: describe certain disadvantaged area
Page 17 and 18: 3.21 In this context, White (2002)
Page 19: “social responsibility, volunteer
Page 23 and 24: collective (‘I pledge to do X if
Page 25 and 26: the province of the community rathe
Page 27 and 28: Deficit ApproachStarts with deficie
Page 30 and 31: communities may have different leve
Page 32 and 33: and disorder, under-performing heal
Page 34 and 35: 6 conclusions and nextsteps6.1 It i
Page 36 and 37: any attempt to link these elements
Page 38 and 39: eferencesADASS 2010Bartnick, E and
Page 40 and 41: LD 2010Liberal Democrats (2010), Li

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