Stronger communities needed to counter extremism?

Local politicians have been sent copies of the leaked BNP (British National Party) membership list and some have concluded that the right-wing party is extremely weak on the Fylde Coast (61 members in Blackpool South). However, does this mean that the local mainstream political parties can be complacent? Have they done enough to inspire cohesive, active communities as a deterrent to extremism?

Blackpool Resort Masterplan

The results of the latest report into the progress of the Blackpool Resort Masterplan have been announced by Liz Meek, Regional Director of the Government Office for the North West.

The report, which was commissioned by Communities Secretary Hazel Blears, measures progress of the Masterplan against the recommendations made by the Blackpool Task Force. Formed in March 2007, the Task Force was set up following a request from government to assess the long-term regeneration plans in the town following its failed casino bid.

In addition, following the recent appointment of Sir Howard Bernstein as its Chair, Urban Regeneration Company (URC), ReBlackpool is carrying out a strategic review into the regeneration Masterplan.

For a copy of the press release about this to view or download it, then click here or visit BCN Scribd documents top left of this page.

For our VIP readers (visually impaired people) then we reproduce the whole press release by clicking below (this allows for it to be included in our Odiogo Podcasts for easy listening):

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

Participatory Budgeting Conference Report

A National Conference on PB – Participatory Budgeting – was held in Manchester recently. This was used as an opportunity by Hazel Blears MP, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government to announce a series of measures aimed at mainstreaming PB by 2012.

Visit the PB Unit’s Website for more information.

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.

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.