| Gweini Members Briefing Paper No 5 - An Introduction to Communities First |
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Page 1 of 3 AN INTRODUCTION TO "COMMUNITIES FIRST"At the heart of the National Assembly's Social Inclusion Policy is its funding stream called THE COMMUNITY PURPOSE FUND which over 2001-2004 is worth £83 million. The fund supports three funding programmes:
Of these three initiatives, whilst People in Communities and Sustainable Communities were developed by the old Welsh Office, the Communities First programme has been developed by the National Assembly and stands at the centre of its Social Inclusion policy, enjoying the bulk of the Community Purpose Fund. (£80 million 2001-2004). COMMUNITIES FIRST DISTINCTIVES:Communities First has a number of important distinctives:
UNDERSTANDING COMMUNITIES FIRST: A MEANS TO AN ENDThe great fanfare of trumpets that announced the launch of Communities First, celebrating its place at the cornerstone of National Assembly social inclusion policy, can seem somewhat misplaced when one confronts the hard facts of the situation. £80 million sounds like a lot of money but split between 88 communities over three years it only amounts to a few hundred thousand per community per year. The limitations of Communities First money, however, should not blind us to the strategic significance of this innovative programme. TOWARDS AN EFFECTIVE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK: THE LOCAL PARTNERSHIPIn laying the foundations for a state of the art community development framework, Communities First has determined that it is imperative to develop "community capacity". This objective is realised through what community professionals call "capacity building", which classically involves initiatives to help communities develop their ability to rise to challenges such as assessing their needs and priorities and making necessary decisions. Central to this goal is the place of the Communities First Local Partnership. The Local Partnership is established on the basis of the "3 thirds principle". According to this principle, The National Assembly defines these as follows: 1. COMMUNITY REPRESENTATIVES"The community can be represented by local people who have the respect and confidence of those living in the area or by community organizations that serve and are active in the area." 2. STATUTORY SECTOR REPRESENTATIVES"Statutory bodies can include members and officers of the local authorities and community councils, health authorities, school/colleges, police authorities, housing associations and government agencies (e.g. ELWa, the Welsh Development Agency, Wales Tourist Board, Environment Agency and Sports Council for Wales... It can also include elected members. 3. A) VOLUNTARY SECTOR REPRESENTATIVES"The voluntary sector can include organisations that deliver statutory and voluntary service councils. It can also include single issue groups at the local level such as parent and toddler groups, faith groups, credit unions, tenant and resident groups, parent and teacher associations." (Emphasis added) 3 B) BUSINESS SECTOR REPRESENTATION"The business sector can be represented by employers in the area, in particular local small businesses which have operated in the community for some time. Members can also be sought from representative bodies such as Chambers of Commerce, the Confederation of British Industry, Business in the Community or the Federation of Small Businesses." Thus there is a clear place for faith groups within the voluntary sector. We need to be there! LOCAL PARTNERSHIP PLANSThe Partnership must develop two plans that inform all that it does:
CAPACITY BUILDING PLAN"The Capacity Building Plan sets out the community's aims in developing the capacity of the community, Partnership and agencies to enable engagement in the process." To the extent that a community with no capacity to engage is a dead community, Communities First, as noted earlier, is very much about the development of capacity and thus community life. The Capacity Building Plan is about addressing the need for community engagement which will not just build capacity in the community but specifically help in the construction of the COMMUNITY ACTION PLAN. COMMUNITY ACTION PLAN"A Community Action Plan sets out what a community wants and how that will be delivered."
ACCESSING FUNDING:1) COMMUNITIES FIRST MONIESCommunities First funding will be allocated to partnerships on the basis of their plans.
2) FURTHER MONIESAs noted earlier, however, the success of the Communities First programme will really depend upon the extent to which the pump priming money provided by the National Assembly, and the incentives it provides for the development of civic capacity, then enable the partnership to access other monies. It is precisely because Communities First takes communities through the long process of both forming a partnership and engaging in wider consultation that they will be able to demonstrate that they have developed capacity which is what should attract other funding streams. THE CHRISTIAN VOLUNTARY SECTOR AND COMMUNITIES FIRSTCommunities First provides another policy departure that makes it very difficult for Christians wishing to pursue community development to do so effectively by "going it alone". It presents the Christian Voluntary Sector with a further challenge to engage with civil society at large. Whilst money will ultimately be allocated to specific projects, a great deal of time will be devoted to developing civic capacity through generating plans and partnering with other bodies and other individuals. This is a great challenge to Christian welfare providers who would rather live in a Christian cosmos and only engage with the world at the point of service delivery to the homeless person, the parent and toddler etc. If we are to access government and other monies at a time when PARTNERSHIP is everything, however, then we must engage with partnerships. ACTIONCheck Appendix 1 and find out whether you live in a Communities First area. There are two ways in which you can engage:
Contact the National Assembly Communities First Unit to discover the state of play with your Communities First Partnership and ask how you can engage. If you do not live in a Communities First area but provide a service in a neighbouring community, accessed by people within the Communities First area, then you may be able to benefit from the Communities First process: For further information contact: THE COMMUNITIES FIRST UNIT e-mail:
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STOP PRESS!!!COMMUNITIES FIRST TRUST FUNDThe National Assembly has just launched the Communities First Trust Fund. This will be attractive for many church/para church projects because of its relative simplicity. Individual projects can make individual bids without having to worry about developing the partnerships which are central to the thrust of the mainstream Communities First process. The Communities First Trust Fund is worth £9 million over the next three years and covers 139 wards and sub-wards. Each ward and sub ward is allocated £20,000 per financial year. The aspiration of the fund is that rather than giving out £20,000 to one project in each area per year smaller grants should be made to a number of projects in the area which corporately add up to £20,000. The WCVA Bulletin April 15th defined the Communities First Trust Fund in the following terms: The Welsh Assembly Government's Communities First Trust Fund is a new grants scheme targeted at the most disadvantaged communities in Wales. The fund is managed by the Communities First Support Network on behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government and administered by WCVA. Small grants are available for groups in Communities First areas for any type of activity that involves local people through small community-led organisations. The Fund is aimed at supporting activities that provide economic, environmental, social or cultural benefit for people. Send them an e-mail and ask for a fund application pack. Briefing Compiled by Daniel Boucher Gweini Policy Development Officer |