By Dan Crowe, 3ni director
There’s a LOT to like about the government’s £5billion ‘Pride in Place’ announcement today.
Using the Community Needs Index in its selection methodology to focus on ‘doubly disadvantaged’ neighbourhoods, it reflects what we’ve seen through the Big Local programme and our own research at 3ni – referenced in the strategy – that when residents lead neighbourhood change at the hyper-local level, it works. Policy seems to be listening to the evidence.
The headlines are eye-catching, and the investment significant. Building on the 75 Plan for Neighbourhoods areas, an additional 169 neighbourhoods across the UK will each receive up to £20 million to spend over ten years, getting the funding and powers they need to rebuild their communities from the bottom up. A further 95 areas will receive a share of £150million to spend on revitalising their neighbourhood infrastructure and civic assets.
Whilst the media focus has been on bringing back to life boarded-up shops, community rescue of derelict pubs and councils blocking unwanted shops, the real story behind this long-term initiative is the unprecedented emphasis on putting local residents and communities in the driving seat of how the regeneration money is spent.
This centring of lived experience and harnessing the aspirations, commitment, skills and know-how of local people is the biggest breakthrough in the Pride of Place programme. It’s exactly the kind of radical localism and asset-based community development approach rooted in genuine community ownership and hyper-local decision-making that 3ni has been advocating. Too many regeneration programmes in the past have been ‘done to’ communities, not with them.
Lessons from the past
But before we break out the party balloons, let’s be honest. Good intentions don’t always translate into good outcomes. The success of neighbourhood programmes only becomes a reality if we learn those lessons from the past.
To escape the fate of past community regeneration programmes and replicate the success of Big Local, investment is needed in community capacity and foundational social infrastructure, both essential to build and nurture the social capital that strengthens communities, generates resilience and brings the sort of lasting change that people can see and feel.
Social capital – the trust, skills, confidence and networks that enable residents to shape their own future – is just as essential as funding or planning permissions. Indeed, it is this local ‘collective efficacy’ that is essential to the success and sustainability of initiatives such as the Community RIght to Buy, and which the strategy recognises.
Towards a movement
At 3ni, we’ve been working with local authorities across the country to build a new movement for neighbourhoods. The Pride in Place announcement is exciting and ambitious. Together with the creation of the Community Wealth Fund, it feels like a reset moment with communities being given the resources, authority, and space they need to effect real, meaningful change. For too long, people have been casual bystanders in their own communities. But we must give those with the most skin in the game when it comes to the future of the neighbourhoods they call home the time and tools they need to lead the change they want to see. It must embed resilience, not just new slogans.
Neighbourhood renewal works best when local government is empowered to work hand-in-hand with residents, adapting to what each place needs. As 3ni’s work and research shows, community-led regeneration isn’t just good in theory, it’s making a difference to the things that matter most to people up and down the country.
And the timing couldn’t be better. At next week’s Labour Conference, we’re teaming up with The New Statesman for a fringe event on Monday 29 September to dig deeper into what Pride in Place really means. We’ll be joined by a brilliant panel to debate how we turn this moment into a movement. If you’re at conference, come along and join in the conversation.
About our fringe event
Building social capital for neighbourhoods: with local government under growing pressure, it’s more important than ever to place power and resources into the hands of communities. Join us to explore the importance of social capital – the networks that bring people together and enable residents to improve their neighbourhoods for the better.
Speakers:
- Cllr Jane Ashworth, Leader of Stoke-on-Trent City Council
- Dan Crowe, Director, 3ni
- Dr Henry Kippin, Chief Executive, North East Combined Authority
- Deborah Stephens, L30 Community Centre
- Chris Deerin, Scotland Editor, New Statesman
When? 29 September, 10am-10.50am
Where? Education area 2, Museum of Liverpool, Pier Head, Mann Island, Liverpool L3 1DG