The majority of Wales is classed amongst the poorest parts of Europe and within this so-called ‘Convergence’ area, there are further pockets of real economic and social deprivation that desperately requires additional support to aid regeneration.
To address this need, the first Assembly Government allocated £136 million towards a new initiative known as Communities First. Its aim was to provide opportunities for those living in the most disadvantaged areas of Wales.
After six years, it can be argued that the programme has not met its potential. There have been notable successes, such as New Sandfields Aberavon, which has been extremely successful in delivering projects that make a real difference to its community.
Not surprisingly, this innovative organisation was recently named as the only social enterprise to be featured in last year’s Fast Growth 50 list of the fastest growing businesses in Wales.
On the other hand, the programme has been accused of adopting a top down approach that has largely focused on the administration of the programme and becoming yet another bureaucratic jungle for individuals and communities to navigate through.
Such organisational and operational problems have culminated in the scandalous position of £6 million of Communities First funds allocated to our poorest communities being returned unspent to the Assembly Government last year.
With a new set of ministers around the cabinet table, the third Assembly Government has now decided to revamp the scheme, renaming it Communities Next and allocating £140 million of funding over the next three years.
Critics have suggested that, outside of the marketing of the programme, nothing much will change and it is yet another rebranding exercise by politicians that will deliver little to the communities it is meant to serve.
According to the Assembly Government, Communities Next will “put an emphasis on demonstrating practical action, such as creating job opportunities and providing training, tackling child poverty, establishing new community services and improving local income, health issues and the environment”.
More importantly, it will work in partnership with organisations such as local authorities, Local Health Boards, and Jobcentre Plus Wales.
Of course, this is exactly what Communities First should have been doing since it was started in 2001, and it does suggest that the Assembly did take its eyes off the ball in monitoring the management of the initiative during this period.
Whilst links with other public sector bodies will cut down on needless duplication of services, local businesses must also be fully engaged in supporting this programme. To date, there is little evidence to show that Communities First co-ordinators have engaged in any real partnerships with the private sector, despite the fact that businesses can make a long term and sustainable contribution to tackling deprivation within their own localities.
There also needs to be greater partnership with organisations such as the Prince’s Trust and Business in the Community, both of which can help to bring in expertise from the business sector into our poorest areas.
Co-ordination across Assembly departments is another area that needs to be examined in detail. For example, the previous Objective 1 programme saw £115 million of European grants specifically spent on projects within the most deprived parts of Wales.
Yet, only a small proportion of the £136 million used by the Assembly to fund Communities First was actually utilised as matched funding to support European projects within these areas. As a result, a massive opportunity has been missed to gear up the amount of money going into our poorest communities.
We hear a lot from politicians about getting ‘the most from the Welsh pound’ and yet if this process had been managed properly during the last six years, the financial impact on Communities First areas could have been quadrupled through using a combination of Government, European and other sources of match funding.
Certainly, there needs to be more joined up thinking in ensuring that the £140 million to be allocated to the new programme is used to attract hundreds of millions of pounds in additional funding from Europe, local authorities, charities and the private sector.
Our poorest communities need all the help they can get and I hope that the Assembly Government will carefully examine how it can make the most of the funding opportunities available through Communities Next and, most importantly, that this regeneration process can be improved and embedded in the local community through partnerships with the Welsh business sector.
To address this need, the first Assembly Government allocated £136 million towards a new initiative known as Communities First. Its aim was to provide opportunities for those living in the most disadvantaged areas of Wales.
After six years, it can be argued that the programme has not met its potential. There have been notable successes, such as New Sandfields Aberavon, which has been extremely successful in delivering projects that make a real difference to its community.
Not surprisingly, this innovative organisation was recently named as the only social enterprise to be featured in last year’s Fast Growth 50 list of the fastest growing businesses in Wales.
On the other hand, the programme has been accused of adopting a top down approach that has largely focused on the administration of the programme and becoming yet another bureaucratic jungle for individuals and communities to navigate through.
Such organisational and operational problems have culminated in the scandalous position of £6 million of Communities First funds allocated to our poorest communities being returned unspent to the Assembly Government last year.
With a new set of ministers around the cabinet table, the third Assembly Government has now decided to revamp the scheme, renaming it Communities Next and allocating £140 million of funding over the next three years.
Critics have suggested that, outside of the marketing of the programme, nothing much will change and it is yet another rebranding exercise by politicians that will deliver little to the communities it is meant to serve.
According to the Assembly Government, Communities Next will “put an emphasis on demonstrating practical action, such as creating job opportunities and providing training, tackling child poverty, establishing new community services and improving local income, health issues and the environment”.
More importantly, it will work in partnership with organisations such as local authorities, Local Health Boards, and Jobcentre Plus Wales.
Of course, this is exactly what Communities First should have been doing since it was started in 2001, and it does suggest that the Assembly did take its eyes off the ball in monitoring the management of the initiative during this period.
Whilst links with other public sector bodies will cut down on needless duplication of services, local businesses must also be fully engaged in supporting this programme. To date, there is little evidence to show that Communities First co-ordinators have engaged in any real partnerships with the private sector, despite the fact that businesses can make a long term and sustainable contribution to tackling deprivation within their own localities.
There also needs to be greater partnership with organisations such as the Prince’s Trust and Business in the Community, both of which can help to bring in expertise from the business sector into our poorest areas.
Co-ordination across Assembly departments is another area that needs to be examined in detail. For example, the previous Objective 1 programme saw £115 million of European grants specifically spent on projects within the most deprived parts of Wales.
Yet, only a small proportion of the £136 million used by the Assembly to fund Communities First was actually utilised as matched funding to support European projects within these areas. As a result, a massive opportunity has been missed to gear up the amount of money going into our poorest communities.
We hear a lot from politicians about getting ‘the most from the Welsh pound’ and yet if this process had been managed properly during the last six years, the financial impact on Communities First areas could have been quadrupled through using a combination of Government, European and other sources of match funding.
Certainly, there needs to be more joined up thinking in ensuring that the £140 million to be allocated to the new programme is used to attract hundreds of millions of pounds in additional funding from Europe, local authorities, charities and the private sector.
Our poorest communities need all the help they can get and I hope that the Assembly Government will carefully examine how it can make the most of the funding opportunities available through Communities Next and, most importantly, that this regeneration process can be improved and embedded in the local community through partnerships with the Welsh business sector.