Neighbourhood Agreements Neighbourhood Agreements, Community Activists and the Big Society?

The Home Office Role in Neighbourhood Agreements 12 Pathfinders across England and Wales developing crime agreements Shared learning Evaluation of what works and doesn’t Support to develop agreements in other areas

What is a Neighbourhood Agreement? A method of highlighting minimum standards and base line services A way of working with the community to agree on their roles and responsibilities in the community A method of empowering the community that enables them to monitor and oversee local services A partnership of equals

What started this work? - –NDC exit strategy –Dependency culture –Lack of local knowledge –A culture that someone else will do it –Lack of understanding of services –A inclusive approach to engagement

If done right the benefits will be….. –Community cohesion and a sense of civic pride –Better partnership working –Areas that were not joined up highlighted –Increased numbers of local people involved in decision making –Realisation that the community have a part to play and are part of the problem and the solution

What did Oldham learn? –Ownership at all levels and championed from the beginning made all the difference –Developed clear service agreements that could be used by all –A directory for services to use also- services were not clear of each others roles –A clear link made between the community, services and the elected members of the area –You need someone who is pushy and thick skinned to drive forward the agreements

Neighbourhood Agreement & Neighbourhood Policing – the perfect partners Increases visibility and accessibility of neighbourhood policing team Increases visibility and accessibility of neighbourhood policing team Increases the communication with, and involvement of the community in policing decisions Increases the communication with, and involvement of the community in policing decisions enables the community to influence how neighbourhood policing is delivered and to set community priorities enables the community to influence how neighbourhood policing is delivered and to set community priorities Reinforces and clarifies key messages and roles Reinforces and clarifies key messages and roles Embeds partnership working Embeds partnership working

The community’s role –Local champions –Monitoring the agreements –Developing the agreements with partners –Street reps –Helping to consult –Spreading the word

From this investment comes :- –Residents trusting service providers –Local people gaining new skills and confidence –Better community spirit and ownership –A community that supports each other BUT this isn’t easy

What shouldn’t happen –Lip-service and tokenism –A rushed process –A policy paper with no substance –Involving the community after the decisions are made –Not owned or valued by services –No open channels of communication- the middle management plug

Lots of activists out there –Neighbourhood Watch –Community Crime Fighters –Tenant and Residents Groups –Faith groups –Interest groups –They all have something to contribute and to learn - no one person knows best

Remember we are dealing with real people- real issues!

…and what do residents want!! – Plain English only- speak one language – Make others realise they are part of the problem – Make and keep things simple – Working together – Solve problems don’t just respond to them

The risks to this approach … –The community invests and the plug is pulled –There is not the right support - personalities, knowledge and drive –The usual suspects take over –The services don’t take the community seriously –Checks and balances not in place to ensure that local people do not become bigger than the process –Excluding groups- individuals and self interest groups setting agendas –Putting people at risk

But never should we forget …. –The role of young people –Older people and people in care –The diverse communities –The barriers to engagement hindering individuals or communities playing a role –Some people are just not interested

How and why did you get involved as a volunteer/ activist?

Breaking the culture

Engaging really can change lives

Getting it right - agreements and community empowerment –Clear use of English –No jargon or policy speak –Owned by the community –Sustainable and not a short term fix –Chose your name carefully, clever abbreviations don’t work with the community – leave that in the workplace –Invest in your community –Keep it as simple as possible

Findings so far from the Neighbourhood Agreement Pathfinders Reaching unengaged people is hard Showing the community what services do and how they can be measured is difficult Keeping people interested needs motivation Working as a very large team of services and residents is new ground

People don’t fit into our policies

Thank you and questions