1. Driving positive change within communities
Camilla Sheldon
Deputy Director: Community Rights
Department of Communities and Local Government
Jan 2015 1

2. Commitment & approach to devolution
In 2010 the Coalition Government made a commitment:
“to oversee a radical redistribution of power away from Westminster and Whitehall to councils, communities and homes across the nation. Wherever possible, we want people to call the shots over the decisions that affect their lives……[and] end the era of top down government by giving new powers to local councils, communities, neighbourhoods, and individuals.”
Approach taken:
Introduce policies, linked to legislative change where necessary, to increase powers of local institutions and enhance local accountability and transparency.
Avoid a ‘one size fits all’ approach and allow different responses to different challenges.
The challenges of austerity and demographic change demand new and different approaches to delivering public services.
We believe that one element of this change is devolution of services and decisions to communities and neighbourhoods
Creates an environment for
bespoke local solutions
Greater local involvement in decisions and democratic accountability
Social entrepreneurs to develop solutions

3. Devolving to local authorities
General Power of Competence (Feb 2012)
gives councils the power to do anything an individual can do provided it is not prohibited by other legislation
Local authorities have more control over their own finances:
under the Business Rates Retention scheme £11 billion is now retained locally rather than redistributed via central government
Made transparency and open data a key priority:
Local residents have the power to veto excessive Council Tax rises
Local Government Transparency Code issued to local authorities
sets out the minimum data that local authorities should be publishing
the frequency it should be published, and
how it should be published.
‘Right to report’ –allows the press and public to film all public meetings of local government bodies.
GPC - applies to all principal councils (district, county and unitary councils
etc). It also applies to eligible parish and town councils. It replaces the wellbeing powers in England that were provided under the Local Government Act 2000.
In summary, the GPC enables councils to do things:
• an individual may generally do
• anywhere in the UK or elsewhere
• for a commercial purpose or otherwise, for
a charge or without a charge
• without the need to demonstrate that it will
benefit the authority, its area or persons
resident or present in its area (although in
practice councils will want to realise such
benefits).
Should mean LAs are more flexible and able to work with social entrepreneurs – to tackle local issues and deliver tailor made solutions
The Code is a tool to embed transparency in local authorities and sets out the minimum data that local authorities should be publishing, the frequency it should be published, and how it should be published.
Data transparency provides an opportunity for tech savvy social entrepreneurs to analyse outcomes and spending and devise new solutions and services. Our Community Services grant programme previously supported Our Digital Community – a programme that supported community organisations and social entrepreneurs to develop digital service propositions

4. Devolving powers to communities
Community Right to Bid
Giving people the opportunity to protect assets important to them
Over 1,800 assets of community value have been listed
Community Right to Challenge
Giving the voluntary and community sector the opportunity to bid to take over local services
51 expressions of interest submitted, 9 procurements triggered
Our Place
Supporting communities in 130 areas to work with local partners including, local authorities, councillors and officials, the voluntary and community sector and local businesses to tackle issues in their neighbourhood, shape decision making on public service delivery and spend of public money.
Community Shares
Sustainable social investment model that gives communities an opportunity to purchase a stake in their local community enterprise
Over £50million already been raised by communities in England
We have also created powers for communities to have a greater say in what happens in their area, and better opportunities to take over local assets and services.
Beyond legislation, we have worked with local groups and community members through the Our Place programme.
This programme supports communities to work with local partners including, local authorities, councillors and officials, the voluntary and community sector and local businesses to tackle issues in their neighbourhood, shape decision making on public service delivery and spend of public money. We have had a support programme in place to help new and existing groups to take up these opportunities.
Support to date includes £18 million for community assets – often effectively local social businesses – co-operative pubs and shops etc. This included £9 million capital
Support for communities and social enterprises to bid to deliver local services.

5. Devolving powers to communities
Neighbourhood Planning, giving communities a new way to decide the future of the places where they live and work, including choosing where new housing, industry and employment should go
Nearly 1200 areas are now designated, and 66 have past referendum
£1 million extension of grant funding for this year and a £22.5 million support programme for neighbourhood planning for
Community Right to Build, giving communities powers to build local housing, shops, and facilities
First 3 Community Right to Build Orders now in force (all in Ferring, Arun) giving permission for 24 homes and a community centre.
More orders are in the pipeline.
We have also created powers for communities to have a greater say in what happens in their area, and better opportunities to take over local assets and services.
Beyond legislation, we have worked with local groups and community members through the Our Place programme.
This programme supports communities to work with local partners including, local authorities, councillors and officials, the voluntary and community sector and local businesses to tackle issues in their neighbourhood, shape decision making on public service delivery and spend of public money. We have had a support programme in place to help new and existing groups to take up these opportunities.
Support to date includes £18 million for community assets – often effectively local social businesses – co-operative pubs and shops etc. This included £9 million capital
Support for communities and social enterprises to bid to deliver local services.

6. Friends of Carnegie Library Halifax Opportunities Trust
Examples of success
Friends of Carnegie Library
Halifax Opportunities Trust
pre-feasibility grant for £9,420 helping to develop sustainable business plan and negotiate asset transfer
Feasibility grant for £65,000 helped to win £10 million contract with local authority
Hundreds of grants have helped communities to develop plans to take on services and assets locally – some examples
Friends of Carnegie Library - received a pre-feasibility grant for £9,420 to help them explore the asset transfer from Sefton Council of the Grade II Listed Carnegie Library.
Through specialist advice and consultation, the organisation are closer to taking on the library and they have been able to get subsequent funding to refurbish the building and they are currently preparing a bid to Heritage Lottery.
Halifax Opportunities Trust. Although they had a good track record of delivering services, they needed to improve their systems to bid for larger contracts.
They received a feasibility grant from our Community Right to Challenge Programme of £65,000 to help them do this and with this help won a contract with Calderdale Council to run Childrens Centres and Family Services worth up to £10.8 million over 3 years.
As part of this contract  HOT have transferred over 100 council staff to their organisation, retaining existing salaries and pensions, with no redundancies and have moved cleaning staff onto the living wage.

7. Examples of success
Fordhall Farm - first community owned farm. Charlotte Hollins rescued the farm through a community share offer.
Hill Holt Wood - a model for social woodland enterprise – established by two social entrepreneurs – now employs 14 people
Lots of examples of social entrepreneurs leading community asset and enterprise initiatives – sometimes supported by community shares
Charlotte Hollins at Fordhall at Hill Holt Wood and Daniel Heery at Cybermoor
Hill holt wood - Its ownersFarm,Nigel and Karen Lowthrop bought the woodland in 1995 and have developed a social enterprise that currently employs fourteen people including the owners themselves. The social enterprise primarily provides vocational training for young people (who have been excluded from school or are unemployed) and it has contracts for this with statutory agencies
Community shares a great way to raise money from the community for projects that they will own and support – we support the community shares unit with an annual grant =of around £200,000

8. Examples of success White City Enterprises Hastings pier
Social enterprise developed as a part of the White City Our Place
Hastings pier
Community-led campaign to bring the pier into community ownership. The community persuaded the local authority to compulsorily purchase the pier and raised £500k, alongside grants from DCLG and the lottery – campaign now has 2500 members
Kiveton Park and Wales Community Development Trust
Business selling unwanted goods – raising money for the community and reducing landfill
A great example is White City Enterprise, this was born out of one of the first Our Place pioneer areas in West London. The Local Authority and Neighbourhood Forum created a new entity – Team White City – that in turn created a new social enterprise ‘White City Enterprise’ in order to compete to deliver the new neighbourhood service opportunities that the Neighbourhood approach creates. Their grounding in, and understanding of the area gives them an advantage and keeps the money local.
The Hastings Pier Charity (HPC), formerly a Registered Charity and CLG, is now a Community Benefit Society (Bencom) with exempt Charity status, formed a membership-based organisation that is charitable in law. HPC is undertaking the restoration and maintenance of the Pier’s structure and will operate the pier as a viable and vibrant addition to the town’s economic future and tourism infrastructure. It was the first Registered Charity to make such a transition.
A community share scheme was launched on October 5th 2013 to enable real community involvement with the new Hastings Pier. In effect it offers ownership and a genuine say in the future of Hastings Pier to those in the community who wish to take part, as well as a chance to make a genuine social investment by investing share capital into the enterprise and becoming community shareholders. The share issues exceeded expectations, ending with more than £500,000 invested and – crucially - nearly 2,500 members who, in investing, will be setting a model for others to follow when they want to make a difference to their life and surroundings.
Kiveton Park and Wales Community Development Trust, Sheffield
Established 9 years ago, Kivo-ebiz is a social enterprise selling unwanted goods for members of our community on e-bay and also raising money for their  community trust. The enterprise has sold £500,000 of goods to date, saving an equivalent amount of landfill waste.

9. Going forward, this Government would like to see…
Increasing numbers of communities genuinely more in control of their physical, social and economic environments – from decision making to delivery
Establishment of a different relationship with public services
Development and growth of social investment market – Power 2 Change
Locally led housing growth and economic development
Support for deprived areas
We want the early change to become more embedded and lead to a genuine movement of empowered, self-sustaining communities. Local, social purpose enterprises will be a big part of this
Power to Change, a new Lottery funded programme to support community enterprises, has announced its first grant offer.
Our own funding is reducing slightly and we need to start to embed the progress we have made

10. My Community Network More areas with improved neighbourhood services
Community led models of service delivery
More communities in control
Locally-led housing growth
Supporting deprived communities
Com Shares
Com
Ec. Dev
N’hood Pl + CRTB
Asset Transfer
Our
Place, inc parishes
First Steps
New Parishes
Delivering Differently
We are announcing successful delivery partners for 2015/16 this week
The new community rights programme will differ from before in several ways
Greater focus on peer support and making use of pioneers/champions
Community economic development – generating locally driven growth in areas of low economic activity
Support and partnership with local authorities – Asset transfer and delivering differently – promoting a long term change in mindset
My Community Network
- peer to peer support
-learning and networking
-awareness raising
-championing

11. My Community Network Encompasses the breadth of the programme
Where all those engaged in any aspect of our policies / programmes can support each other
The Network will:
Network areas and communities
Enable peer to peer support
Build the evidence base for neighbourhood level working
Champion neighbourhood working 11

12. Changing Neighbourhood Commissioning - Our Place
100+ new
Our Place areas 12
Our Place
pioneers
Plugged into the Network
Expanded pool of Neighbourhood working
Engaging parish and town councils
Promoting neighbourhood level service delivery
Capturing and sharing learning
Building business cases

13. Changing Neighbourhood Commissioning Delivering Differently
Community Right to Challenge
Delivering Differently I
Delivering Differently in neighbourhoods
II & III
Desired outcome: more services being delivered at a neighbourhood level, more models of neighbourhood level service delivery that can be transferred and replicated.
Approach: direct support to up to 12 areas in and up to 12 areas in to develop neighbourhood based service models
Aim: to gather evidence and learning, including the costs and benefits, both social and financial in order to influence and inform change. 13

14. First Steps – enabling community activists
Our partners said:
“some communities are further away from being able to access the support and opportunities available – they need more targeted interventions”
“deprivation isn’t the only relevant measure – we need to be more nuanced”
We will support 100 neighbourhoods to:
engage and inspire high energy but poorly connected communities activists
connect them to local and national networks and support
raise awareness of the range of ways communities can take control
enable them to create community action plans
First steps will work in communities with little current social capital – but it needs some high energy individuals – scope here for Social entepreneurs?

15. Community Economic Development
DRAFT
Community Economic Development
We want to:
Help communities take more control over their economic destiny
Enable them to develop a coordinated approach that will allow them be an active part of the solution to tackling negative economic cycles
We will:
Support 50 neighbourhoods where intensive support will be provided to:
grow their understanding of local economic issues; and
help them develop “community economic plans” – clear actions that the community will pursue with local partners
Community Economic Development - Creating the conditions for reversing cycles of economic decline – question – how can social entrepreneurs benefit but also contribute to these projects? 15

16. Community Ownership of Assets
Over 1,800 assets of community value listed
More than 150 assets helped into community ownership
and
the market place for financial support is growing, i.e. Power to Change
Where can DCLG best add value?
Direct support for 50 partnerships
Pre-feasibility grants to buy in support
Facilitate market development
Develop / update toolkits and case studies 16

17. Grants &/or direct support Champions & future peer to peer support
Customer Journey
signposting
Lessons learnt
Grants &/or direct support
Peer to peer advice
Expert advice
Champions & future peer to peer support

18. Next Steps Feb 2015 From April 1 2015
Neighbourhood Planning & Community Right to Build
From April
My Community Network & Advice Service
Our Place
First Steps
Community Economic Development
Community Ownership and Management
of Assets
Hand over to Hayley Johnson-Hurst to talk about COMA

19. Challenges and opportunities
Harnessing individuals and groups in communities – particularly where there is less activity and infrastructure
Creating a sustainable model to support community action and enterprise in the future
Opportunities
Programmes such as First Steps and Community Economic Development: what are the opportunities for social entrepreneurs in disadvantaged areas?
Radical neighbourhood level devolution: can social entrepreneurs provide tailored local solutions?
Digital agenda – government and local authorities are seeking more digital solutions: can social entrepreneurs be providers at a local level?
We are reliant on harnessing the individuals and community groups willing to explore the changing landscape and willing to take on the opportunities we’ve created in order to make this work - and we need to think about how we nurture and support them.
There are opportunities for locally grounded social entrepreneurs to develop innovative ways of delivering services that make use of their local knowledge and social mission to deliver the services that communities want