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Glossary of TermsGlossary of Useful Terms Used in Community
Development Work The programmes and definitions below refer
to England unless otherwise stated. Additionality:
a way of measuring the benefits of a project which highlights the
changes brought about which would not have occurred if the project
hadn't taken place. Anti Poverty Strategies (APS):
an attempt at a co-ordinated approach to tackling poverty including
programmes to help people claim benefits, manage debt, have access to
low interest small loans and better access to social work and housing
services. Area Based
Regeneration: in some areas,
problems of economic, social & environmental dereliction combine to lock
local communities into a vicious cycle of exclusion. Area based
initiatives encourage a range of partners to work together, targeting
their resources to improve the quality of life in these areas. Area Investment Frameworks (AIFs): set out the regeneration priorities for an area with the aim of targeting funding from regional development agencies (see RDAs). AIFs are developed by partnerships of local and regional agencies.
Baseline:
a measurement of the starting conditions, for example numbers
unemployed, before a programme is undertaken. The benefits of a
programme can be assessed over time by comparing the baseline with more
up to date figures. Best Value: a Government scheme to
encourage local authorities to consult much more effectively and
efficiently about the services they provide or purchase. Building
Communities Initiative: an
initiative, managed by Free Form Arts Trust, which encourages local
communities to participate in housing regeneration projects. It is
facilitated by Free Form Design and Technical Services with the help of
government funding.
www.freeform.org.uk Business Broker Schemes: Local Strategic Partnerships are being invited to bid for these to assist businesses in maximising their contribution to Neighbourhood Renewal. Business in the Community and the British Chambers of Commerce are co-ordinating the project. www.neighbourhood.gov.uk/bbrokers.asp Capacity building: shorthand for a wide range of support, techniques and initiatives, which aim to build the capacity of individuals or organisations within communities to contribute effectively to regeneration and other projects.
Capital Funding: money spent on the purchase or improvement of fixed assets such as buildings, roads and equipment.
City Challenge: a five year Government initiative, now completed, aimed at transforming specific rundown inner city areas and significantly improving the quality of life for local residents within its policy area
City Pride: citywide partnerships launched in 1993 to enhance the cities of Birmingham, London and Manchester. Manchester Community Pride includes the involvement of many local churches
Closed-Circuit Television Initiative: Jointly managed by the Home Office, the ODPM and the National Assembly for Wales, the Closed-Circuit Television Initiative aims to help local crime and disorder reduction partnerships deploy closed-circuit television (CCTV) in areas with significant crime and disorder problems.
Community Cohesion: is a term that has recently become increasingly popular in public policy debates. It is closely linked to other concepts such as inclusion and exclusion, social capital and differentiation, community and neighbourhood. In this way it has indirectly been the focus of a number of policies and initiatives aimed principally at reducing social exclusion. The simplest measure of community cohesion would be of groups who live in a local area getting together to promote or defend some common local interest.
Communities Plan: The Communities Plan (Sustainable Communities: Building for the future) was launched on 5 February 2003. The Plan sets out a long-term programme of action for delivering sustainable communities in both urban and rural areas. It aims to tackle housing supply issues in the South East, low demand in other parts of the country, and the quality of our public spaces. This £22 billion programme of action aims to focus the attention and co-ordinate the efforts of all levels of Government and stakeholders in bringing about development that meets the economic, social and environmental needs.
Communities First: a Welsh Assembly programme to establish 100 partnerships in areas of deprivation across Wales to tackle deprivation using a comprehensive approach and the involvement of the local community.
Communities Plan: This (Sustainable Communities: Building for the future) was launched on 5 February 2003. The Plan sets out a long-term programme of action for delivering sustainable communities in both urban and rural areas.
Community Businesses: organisations that are established to provide services and/or employment in a local community. Their focus is about building the community and the local economy, but doing so in a business-like way as independent and self-supporting organisations.
Community Chest: Neighbourhood Renewal Community Chests are administered by voluntary sector 'lead organisations' and offer small grants of up to £5,000 to community groups for projects to help them renew their own neighbourhoods. www.neighbourhood.gov.uk/document.asp?id=172
Community Empowerment Fund (CEF): aims to help community and voluntary groups to become empowered in order to participate in Local Strategic Partnerships and neighbourhood renewal. Government Offices for the Regions are responsible for distributing CEF resources and there will be £36m over three years. www.neighbourhood.gov.uk/document.asp?id=106
Community Forum: This was launched on 23 January 2002. Its purpose is to act as a sounding board for Ministers and the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit and provide a 'grass-roots' perspective on neighbourhood renewal strategies. www.neighbourhood.gov.uk/commforum.asp
Community Legal Service Partnerships: local networks of providers of legal services, supported by co-ordinated funding and delivering services to local communities based on identified priority need. Community Planning: the process where local authority and partner organisations come together to plan, provide and promote the well being of their communities. It promotes the active involvement of communities in the decisions on local services which affect people's lives including for example health, education, transport, the economy, safety and the environment.
Community Strategies: the plans which local authorities are now required to prepare for improving the economic, environmental and social well being of local areas and by which the councils are expected to co-ordinate the actions of the public, private voluntary and community organisations that operate locally.
Compact: Code of Good Practice on relations between the English voluntary and community sector and the state ‘which aims to strengthen ties between the Government and community groups. There’s a Community Groups Code to be accessed at www.thecompact.org.uk
Creative Partnerships: organisations which provide a bridge between schools and cultural organisations, enabling every pupil to have the chance to work with creative professional and organisations to develop creative skills. Creative Spaces Initiative: a programme run by The Architectural Foundation. www.creativespaces.org.uk
Crime Concern: a national crime reduction organisation and registered charity which provides advice and help to a wide range of professional and voluntary agencies to support their work in reducing crime and the fear of crime within local communities and runs over 60 projects across England and Wales. www.crimeconcern.org.uk
Crime Reduction Partnerships: statutory partnerships formed as a consequence of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 which required the Police and local authorities and others to work together to tackle crime and disorder within a local authority area. www.crimereduction.gov.uk
Crime Reduction Programme: a Government funded programme which consists of a series of diverse initiatives which have been shown to be effective at reducing crime or the fear of crime.
Development Trusts: not-for-profit, community-based organisations that are engaged in the economic, environmental & social regeneration of a defined area or community.
Displacement: the extent to which the effects of a project impact on surrounding areas.
Early Excellence
Centres: local centres that
offer models of good practice in early years education in deprived
areas. Education Action
Zones: local clusters of
schools in deprived areas receiving special government grants to work
together with others to raise education standards.
www.standards.dfee.gov.uk/eaz Employment Zones: areas where additional money is available to help the long term unemployed into work. www.dfee.gov.uk/employmentzones
English Partnerships: the key delivery agency in the government's new 'living communities' agenda to regenerate our towns, cities and rural areas. www.englishpartnerships.co.uk
Enterprise Zones: sites for industrial development within older urban areas across GB with relief from paying business rates and relaxed planning restrictions.
ERDF: European Regional Development Fund: an EC structural fund which aims to reduce inequalities in socio-economic development between the regions in the Community, by supporting infrastructure projects, job-creation investments, local development and aid for SMEs. www.europa.eu.int/comm/regional_policy/funds/prord/prord_en.htm
ESF: European Social Fund: supports activities that develop employability and human resources in five key areas: active labour market policies; equal opportunities; improving training and education and promoting lifelong learning; adaptability and entrepreneurship; improving the participation of women in the labour market. www.europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/esf2000/index-en.htm
European Objective 1 funding: Objective 1 targets EU Structural Funds on areas that have an economy falling well behind the European average for wealth creation.
European Objective 2 funding: Objective 2 targets EU structural funds on areas that have suffered through the decline of a major industry.
European Objective 3 funding: Objective 3 targets EU structural funds towards developing lifelong learning, supporting those at risk from exclusion in the workplace, promoting the role of women in the workforce and promoting adaptability and entrepreneurship.
Family Service
Units: a charity working with families in need with 19 family
service units in inner cities in England and Scotland.
www.fsu.org.uk/ Financial
Exclusion: a term used to
describe people who don’t have full access to financial services such as
affordable credit and savings schemes. Many of these people have to
rely on door to door moneylenders or loan sharks which often increases
their indebtedness. Foyer: a place that provides homes, training and work opportunities for homeless young people. www.foyer.net
Government Offices for the Regions: There are nine Government Offices, each working with regional partners and a local person to help deliver the government’s key aims at a regional level. www.rcu.gov.uk
Health Action Zones: partnerships between the NHS, local authorities, the voluntary and private sectors and local communities which represent a new approach to public health, linking health, regeneration, employment, education, housing and anti-poverty initiatives to respond to the needs of vulnerable groups and deprived communities. www.haznet.org.uk/
Health Living Centres: The Healthy Living Centre initiative is managed by the New Opportunities Fund (NOF). The programme targets areas and groups that represent the most disadvantaged sectors of the population. HLCs are expected to seek to influence the wider determinants of health, such as social exclusion, poor access to services, and social and economic aspects of deprivation that can contribute to inequalities in health. www.doh.gov.uk/hlc/index.htm
Home Zones: Residential streets in which the road space is shared between drivers and other road users, with the wider needs of residents being accommodated. They are about promoting quality of life and neighbourliness. www.local-transport.dft.gov.uk/hzone
Housing Management Renewal Areas: bring together local authorities and other agencies in areas where the housing market is thought to be failing.
Housing Pathfinder Partnerships: these were announced in May 2002 to tackle areas where there is low demand for certain areas of private and social housing. HPPs are being formed in Manchester, Salford, Burnley, Rochdale, Stoke, Birmingham, Sheffield, Liverpool and Hull. They involve private sector partners and funding of £2.66m is available for each Pathfinder.
Human Neighbourhood Project: run by the Human City Institute. Project workers support local groups in planning, creating and acting to get their own project underway
Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC): a US not-for-profit organisation founded in 1994 by Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter. It is helping the government in England develop inner city growth strategies. www.icic.org
Leakage: the extent to which the activity proposed benefits people outside the target area.
Life long learning: the continuous development of skills and knowledge to enhance quality of life and employment prospects.
Local Agenda 21: strategies prepared by local authorities to promote sustainable development (green agenda). www.scream.co.uk/la21/
Local Strategic Partnerships: overarching partnerships of stakeholders who will develop ways to involve local people in shaping the future of their neighbourhood in how services are provided. www.neighbourhood.gov.uk/partnerships.asp
Locality Budgeting: the process of developing and co-ordinating budgets between all government organisations relevant to community and neighbourhood needs in a particular area.
Multipliers: the additional or second level effects of a programme.
Neighbourhood Management Programme: a way of encouraging stakeholders to work with service providers to help improve the quality of services delivered in deprived neighbourhoods. www.neighbourhood.gov.uk/nmanagement.asp
Neighbourhood Renewal Community Chests: a total of £50 million central Government money in England over three years 2001-4 for small grants to community groups. www.neighbourhood.gov.uk/commchest.asp
Neighbourhood Renewal Fund: provides public services and communities in the 88 poorest local authority districts with extra funds to tackle deprivation. The original £900 million pot has been extended for a further 3 years and has been increased by a further £975 million. www.neighbourhood.gov.uk/nrfund.asp
Neighbourhood Renewal Unit: is part of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and is responsible for implementing the government’s “New Commitment to Neighbourhood Renewal - National Strategy Action Plan. This strategy is aimed at narrowing the gap between deprived neighbourhoods and the rest of the country. www.neighbourhood.gov.uk
Neighbourhood Support Fund: Government grants of £10,000 upward to community groups to enable them to re-engage disaffected young people. www.dfes.gov.uk/nsf
Neighbourhood
Wardens: A Neighbourhood
Warden provides an uniformed, semi-official presence in a residential
area with the aim of improving quality of life. Wardens can promote
community safety, assist with environmental improvements and housing
management, and also contribute to community development. They may
patrol, provide concierge duties or act as 'super caretakers' and
support vulnerable residents.
www.neighbourhood.gov.uk/nswardens.asp New Commitment to Neighbourhood Renewal: the Government's action plan for neighbourhood renewal in England, produced by the Social Exclusion Unit in 2001. www.neighbourhood.gov.uk/publicationsdetail.asp
New Deal for Communities: a Government programme to regenerate 39 very deprived areas across England over a ten-year period. www.neighbourhood.gov.uk/ndcomms.asp
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM): the Government department responsible for neighbourhood renewal, housing and urban policy. The ODPM includes the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit, the Regional Coordination Unit and the Social Exclusion Unit (review pending). www.odpm.gov.uk/
Outputs and Outcomes: outputs measure what the regeneration programme, such as additional training places or more houses directly produced. Outcomes measure the longer-term changes in an area that improve people’s lives.
Partnerships: partnerships vary greatly in how they are established and resourced and how they operate. There are no defining features for partnerships but they should bring together representatives from different sectors and different communities of interest to agree and work towards common goals. Organisations that bring together representatives of those who have an interest in the local area such as local authorities, health trusts, businesses, voluntary organisations, and residents groups.
Reflect: a community development methodology that focuses on empowerment through participatory approaches to literacy and numeracy. www.reflect-action.org
Regional Chambers: these have been established in each of the eight English regions (outside London), consisting of representatives from local authorities and other sectors. Their role is to support RDAs' regional economic strategies. www.regions.odpm.gov.uk/chambers/
Regional Development Agencies: these are the nine Government agencies set up in 1999. To co-ordinate regional economic development and regeneration, enable the English regions to improve their relative competitiveness and reduce the imbalances that exists within and between regions. www.local-regions.odpm.gov.uk/rda/info/
Registered Social Landlords: landlords of social housing that are registered with the Housing Corporation. Most are housing associations but they also include trusts, co-operatives and companies
Scottish Enterprise: the main Government agency for economic development in Scotland.
Scottish Executive: the devolved government for Scotland. It is responsible for most of the issues of day-to-day concern to the people of Scotland, including health, education, justice, rural affairs, and transport and manages an annual budget of around £20 billion. www.scotland.gov.uk/
Section 106 agreements: (s.75 in Scotland) negotiated agreements to provide, for example, low cost housing or community facilities in return for the granting of planning permission.
Single Pot: regeneration funds available for distribution by the Regional Development Agencies.
Single Regeneration Budget (SRB): Single Regeneration Budget programmes aim to enhance the employment prospects, education and skills of local people and to tackle the needs of communities in the most deprived areas. www.urban.odpm.gov.uk/programmes/srb/index.htm
SMEs: short for small and medium sized enterprise companies employing less than 250 people. Social Entrepreneurs: The equivalent of business entrepreneurs, but operating in the social, not-for profit sector. They aim to seek new and innovative solutions to social problems.
Social Exclusion: The Government has defined social exclusion as being a shorthand label for what can happen when individuals or areas suffer from a combination of linked problems such as unemployment, poor skills, low incomes, poor housing, high crime environments, bad health and family breakdown. It can also have a wider meaning which encompasses the exclusion of people from the normal exchanges, practices & rights of society. www.socialexclusionunit.gov.uk
Social Inclusion Partnerships (SIPs): Government supported partnership organisations in areas of disadvantage in Scotland. Sport Action Zones: a series of areas in which sport is used to reduce social exclusion and promote community development and regeneration. www.sportengland.org
Street Warden Scheme: provides highly visible uniformed patrols in town and village centres, public areas and neighbourhoods. Street Wardens are similar to Neighbourhood Wardens, but their emphasis will be on caring for the physical appearance of the area, and tackling environmental problems. www.neighbourhood.gov.uk/nswardens.asp
Sure Start: a government scheme which aims to improve the health and well-being of families and children before and from birth, so children are ready to flourish when they go to school by setting up local Sure Start programmes to improve services for families with children under four and spreading good practice learned from local programmes to everyone involved in providing services for young children. www.surestart.gov.uk/
Sustainable Communities Plan: Building for the Future: A government programme introduced in 2003 which aims to create thriving, sustainable communities.
Sustainable Communities Programme: a three year partnership between EnCams, Forward Scotland and the Sustainable Northern Ireland Programme which is testing ways in which communities can be supported to improve the quality of life in their neighbourhood. The programme aims to increase understanding of how people can become more involved in sustainable development at a local level, including how to balance social, economic and environmental demands. www.encams.org/
Sustainable Development: activity that achieves mutually reinforcing economic, social and environmental benefits without compromising the needs of future generations.
Synergy: added value arising from the working together of two or more organisations.
Town Centre Managers: manage the public realm of town centres so that they are attractive, safe and accessible to all. They work towards improving the competitiveness and image of towns and cities and organise partnerships between businesses, local authorities and the community.
Towns and Cities: Partners in Urban Renaissance initiative: a scheme involving 24 partner towns in England, organised by the ODPM's Urban Policy Unit and URBED which aims to identify ways to bring about positive change in inner city areas (sometimes called the Working with Towns and Cities Initiative). www.urban.odpm.gov.uk/whitepaper/towncity
Urban Regeneration Companies: not-for-profit companies being set up by local authorities, Regional Development Agencies English Partnerships and other partners to promote development in less prosperous area of English cities by engaging businesses in agreed physical and economic regeneration strategies.
Working Together Learning Together: a training programme run by Communities Scotland. www.wtltnet.org.uk/
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