One-stop shop for Community Cohesion resources

A new website has been launched which will act as a ‘portal’ delivering a range of practical advice and support on how to promote cohesion and integration.

In a press release issued yesterday the Department of Communities and Local Government stated that the Institute of Community Cohesion Website is:

“Aimed at practitioners, policy-makers and other organisations from a whole range of sectors, the website will provide a continuously updated bank of cohesion resources, including toolkits, links and briefings on key issues.”

Young advisors – a voice in Government

A new team of ‘youth advisors’ was unveiled today by Communities Secretary Hazel Blears today as a ‘voice for young people’ on key issues from turning around run down areas to supporting vulnerable people and building communities that young people want to live in.

The two new youth advisors Hazel Blears met today will be supported by a panel of seven other young people who will meet with the Communities Secretary every three months. In between meetings the two advisors will discuss and debate with the rest of the panel.

Youth Advisor, Rory Birch, age 20 from Heywood, Lancashire, said:

“I am very pleased to be on the Panel of youth advisors with the experience of making a difference locally. It will now be interesting to see what difference we can make nationally. I feel privileged to be selected to work on the panel and proud to represent my region of the North West.

“It’s important for young people to have their voices heard as we have our own views on how things are and our opinions will shape the future.”

via New youth panel gives young people and their communities a stronger voice in Whitehall – Corporate – Communities and Local Government

New Ministers for Communities Department

A new ministerial team at the Department for Communities and Local Government has been appointed in the Cabinet re-shuffle see DCLG Press Release. Margaret Beckett is the new Housing Minister.

Also Kevin Brennan, MP for Cardiff West (pictured) has been appointed the new Minister for the Third Sector. He was formerly with the DCSF (Department for Children, School and Families).

Participatory Budgeting – Giving local people a role in local spending

The Department of Communities and Local Government have produced a document explaining the support available to communities, local councils and other partners to deliver PB (Participatory Budgeting).

In the forward to the publication Hazel Blears MP has indicated that PB and other measures announced in Communities in Control in July will mark the definitive end of the “Whitehall knows best” mentality.

The proposals involve working with the PB Unit to establish learning sets in each region to champion and promote participatory budgeting.

It remains to be seen how the PB proposals will be responded to in Blackpool, but the document stipulates that communities should be able to call for their local authority to use PB. Indeed there are new duties on councils to respond to petitions, including any calling for PB.

Of course, a local authority might respond with alternative proposals or a reason why PB is not appropriate. What happens then is not so clear.

Fundamentally, the document is about positively promoting awareness of PB and creating opportunities for using the methodology to bring “devolution to the doorstep”.

The document is available here to view or download as a Word Document or as a PDF file.

Communities in Control – Explained

Communities in Control: Real people, real power is a major new policy explanation document from the Department of Communities and Local Government. One of its tenets is enabling greater access to information – so Blackpool SURF has established a web page to act as a summary and a portal to further details about this significant document.  Access it through the SURF website by clicking here.

Online Government Forum – Communities in Control

An online Government Forum has been established to enable discussion on the Government’s new white paper Communities in Control: Real people, real Power see earlier entry on this website.

The new online forum is availabe at:

http://haveyoursay.communities.gov.uk/forums/rss.aspx?ForumID=73&PostID=410

You can also link to Hazel Blears MP official Empowerment Blog which will run until 18th July. Hazel is the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. To make it easier to follow the debate we have linked to it on the Blogroll on the right hand side of this website.

Communities in control: real people, real power – White Paper

Communities in Control: Real people, real power was launched on 9 July 2008. This White Paper is about passing power to communities and giving real control and influence to more people.

Its key themes are power, influence and control: who has power, on whose behalf is it exercised, how is it held to account, and how can it be diffused throughout the communities we live in. It is about democracy, and how democratic practices and ideals can be applied to our complex, modern society.

Below is an excerpt from section 12 from the Summary Document which many readers will find of interest:

But many councils should do more to promote participation. So, we will introduce a new ‘duty to promote democracy’ to help councils promote involvement through clearer information, better trained staff and more visible councillors in the community.

We will also extend the existing ‘duty to involve’ local people in key decisions, which will come into effect in April 2009, and will cover police authorities and key arts, sporting, cultural and environmental organisations. We will support frontline staff in responding to individual needs with a new task force. We will also set up an Empowerment Fund of at least £7.5m to support national third sector organisations
turn key empowerment proposals into practical action.

The complete documents can be downloaded free from the DCLG (Department of Communities and Local Government) website.