1. Community Engagement in
the current climate
Steve Skinner
LGIU Associate
November 13th 2013

2. Aims
• To discuss the Big Society and Localism agendas
• To examine examples of different approaches to
community engagement from a variety of local
authorities in England and Scotland
• To compare different engagement approaches and
consider their different advantages and disadvantages
• To look at the roles councillors can adopt to develop new
relationships with communities
• To briefly look at community engagement through the
use of social media.

3. Steve Skinner
Current work:
• LGIU and freelance
consultant/trainer/
facilitator/researcher
• Author of Strengthening
Communities: guidelines on
capacity building for
communities and the public
sector and two other
Community Development
Foundation publications
Former roles:
• Director of Community
Engagement at the University
of Bradford
• A Policy Manager in Bradford
Council for eight years
• Member of a Home Office
working group
• Regional Manager for the
Community Development
Foundation

4. Scope
• Focus on roles of
Members and officers in
neighbourhoods and
wards
• Stand back/debate
• Share your views, ideas
and experience
• Guest speaker on social
media
• Activities
• Confidential?

5. Big Society –
key concepts
1. Empowering communities:
‘giving local councils and
neighbourhoods more power
to take decisions and shape
their area’.
2. Opening up public services:
‘the Government’s public
service reforms will enable
charities, social enterprises,
private companies and
employee-owned cooperatives to compete to offer
people high quality services’.
3. Promoting social action:
‘encouraging and enabling
people from all walks of life to
play a more active part in
society, and promoting more
volunteering and Philanthropy’.
Source: Building a Stronger Civil
Society Office for Civil Society
2010

6. Aim of the Big Society?
„The Big Society is about collective action
and collective responsibility. We recognise
that active local people can be better than
state services at finding innovative and
more efficient solutions to local problems.‟
CLG 19th Feb 2013

7. The ladder of participation
• Supporting community
organisations in self help
• Joint action
• Joint decision making
• Consultation
• Informing

8. Big Society
Big Society – examples of programmes:
• Community First - £80 million to fund new and
existing groups - £30 million for matched funding
• Big Society Capital (Bank)
• Community Organisers programme

9. Community First
By summer 2013:
• 600 local panels set up
• £12.5 million distributed
• Grants on average £1000
• 2 million hours of volunteer time generated by
the scheme
• Runs until March 2015
Update available on www.cdf.org.uk

10. Big Society Capital
First annual report:
• By the end of 2012 they had committed £56
million to 20 intermediary organisations
• In the coming year they aim to commit
£75-100 million in up to 20 new
investments.

11. Community Organisers
• The programme was
set up to recruit and
train 500 senior
Community
Organisers, along
with a further 4,500
part-time voluntary
organisers, over four
years.
So far:
• Approx 350 trained
• Paid for 51 weeks
• „Hosted‟ by voluntary
organisations and
community
enterprises
• No evaluation yet

12. Community Organisers
The role of a Community Organiser is to:
• listen to local people
• support people to develop their power to act together for
the common good
• help people take action on the local issues that are
important to them
The work of the Community Organisers is communityled. This means that priorities are set by local people,
not the organiser. The training Community Organisers
get gives them the skills they need to do this.
From the CLG website

13. Big Society:
Challenges
• Content - not clear as
a policy what was
new about it
• Timing - many
volunteer support
organisations have
had reduced funding
• Context – perceived
as an excuse to
reduce public
services
• Impact - can deprived
areas solve their own
problems as easily?

14. Challenges
in the current climate
•
•
•
•
•
•
No major urban funding programmes
Greater reliance on volunteering and self-help
Greater use of social media
Greater need for integrated services
Focus on user empowerment e.g. in ASC
Greater need for enterprise/income in the
voluntary sector
• Others?

15. Challenges
in the current climate
Two key drivers:
• Reductions in public spending is creating
new demands on officers and elected
members
• Independent of this, a growing consensus
on participation and empowerment of
communities and service users

16. New – and old - approaches
In the current climate, where can look for
ideas/good practice/new ways/old ways of
working?
• Member led local partnership – Ellesmere Port
• Resident led local partnerships – Blackburn and
Leeds
• Neighbourhood planning involvement – Leeds
• Voluntary sector led involvement – Wakefield
• Council led partnerships – Tayside, Scotland

17. Engagement methods:
examples
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Public meetings
Neighbourhood forums
Focus groups
Surveys e.g. door to door or online
Scrutiny Panels
Local partnerships
Participative budgeting
•
•
•
•
•
•
Walk about the area
Live phone in on local radio
Stalls at festivals
World Café technique
Use drama and get feedback
Wishing wells…

18. Approaches to engagement
Approaches such as:
• Use partnerships to
improve local services
• Develop local initiative
and leadership
• Build stronger
communities

19. West Cheshire Case Study
• Cheshire West and Chester (CWAC)
formed 2009
• There are 46 electoral wards across
Cheshire West and Chester.
• Five wards acted as Test Beds for
increased ‘locality working’ January to May
2013

20. West Cheshire Case Study
• Came from the Council’s Altogether Better programme,
one of four CLG pilots ‘Whole Place Community Budget
programme.
• The Test Beds were set up in 2012/3 to build on this
experience and to find out:
• How can new decision-making bodies at ward levelCommunity Boards - could be set up?
• How can they can help to improve local services and
strengthen joint working with the community?

21. Grange Estate
• The Grange
neighbourhood is a single
Member Ward.
• Grange is part of
Ellesmere Port, an
industrial area with a long
history as a port.
• Grange has 2,100
residential homes; the
majority of these
dwellings are owned by
CW&C.

22. Grange Estate

23. Grange Estate

24. Grange estate
• Parts of the area are in
the 10% most deprived
areas nationally in terms
of income.
• Low levels of skills and
high levels of
unemployment.
• High concentrations of
health deprivation and
disability.
• Alcohol, drug abuse and
crime are common
concerns

25. Aim: To form a Community Board
These can be led by Elected Members and
involve:
• council officers and paid workers from
other public and voluntary sector services
• local businesses
• residents as representatives who can add
perspectives from local interests and
knowledge of the area.

26. Building the Community Board
• January to March 2013 workshop style
meetings held with public services
• Invitation for them to help form the Board
• Meetings of the Neighbourhood Action
Group to develop idea of a community
board

27. Community Boards: Potential roles
• Co-ordinate - services and activities in the
ward.
• Manage money - such as local budgets that
pay for public services provided locally.
• Build community strengths - help to develop
local leadership and community organisation so
elected members and communities can take
action and contribute to better quality of life in
the

28. Building the Community Board
• Stock take of what
services are already
doing for community
engagement
• Resources could
mean staff time,
facilities, funding for
community groups,
training courses,
panels/forums etc

29. EP
Development
Board
(9 weeks)
EP Locality
Board
(9 weeks)
Community Board
(18 weeks)
Neighbourhood
Action Group
(NAG)
(9 weeks)
Working
Group
Working
Group
Working
Group
(Employment)
(Environment)
(Engagement)

30. GRANGE Community Board
Achievements:
• Improvements to
housing stock
• 20 mile zone
• Garage sites and
gardens improved
• Home Watch Group
with 30 new members
Barriers:
• Confidence and
experience of NAG
members
• Is ward level too
small?

31. Activity:
You are helping to
form a local
partnership in an
inner city area of
three wards to
improve the design
and co-ordination of
services. How could
you ensure effective
community
participation?

32. Community Engagement in
the current climate

33. Ways to engage the community
• Partnerships led by
elected member –
Grange in West
Cheshire
• Partnerships led by
residents, selected by
local Councilor and
others - Blackburn
• Partnerships led by
residents, elected by
local people - Leeds

34. Building a Community Board in
Blackburn
• Ellesmere Port –
a partnership that was
set up by the Ward
Member inviting
managers to form a
board to co-ordinate
services and then
involve the
community
• Blackburn –
a residents led partnership that was
set up by the Ward
Member (and others)
selecting residents
onto a board to
decide on use of a
Big Lottery fund and
then involve service
managers

35. Big Local Lottery scheme
• 150 areas across
England chosen to
receive £1 million to
spend over ten years
• Administered by the
Local Trust; must be
‘additional’ to local
public service
spending.
Aim: to support local people
to contribute to making the
area an even better place
to live.

36. Shadsworth with Whiteberk
area in Blackburn
• Population 7650
• White with 5% Asian
• 37% of working age population claim
benefit
• Industrial park on edge of the area
• More information go to
• www.localtrust.org.uk then Areas

37. Shadsworth with Whiteberk
• Residents led partnership now in place
with 14 members
• Created through advertising and
interviews
• Ward Councillor on interview panel
• Big Local ‘Board’ now have their
Community Plan approved
• Task Groups set up for research and
delivery

38. Big Local Leeds
• Hawksworth Wood
estate - similar area
• A interim resident Big
Local ‘Working Group’
organised local
election to form a Big
Local Board
• 140 residents voted
• 15 residents on the
‘Board’

39. Big Local areas and councils
• Relationships between Big Local and Councils are very mixed.
• Some councillors are very active and supportive, some have chosen
not to be involved and some turn up occasionally to meetings but do
not appear to fully engage with the conversations.
• Council workers, such as housing officers or community action
officers offer great support to areas and are seen as a great
resource by residents, but this does not necessarily improve the
relationship with the council that they are representing.
Source: Interviews and focus groups with residents and key others
involved in a sample of 14 Big Local areas.

40. Ways to engage the community
• Partnerships led by an
elected member –
Grange in West Cheshire
• Partnerships led by
residents, selected by
local Member and others
– Blackburn
• Partnerships led by
residents, elected by local
people - Leeds
Discussion:
What are the pros
and cons of these
three different
approaches?

41. Community Engagement in
the current climate

42. The Localism Act
• The Right to Bid – is
about land and
property
• The Right to
Challenge – is about
services

43. Building the Big Society through
the Localism Act
Decentralisation – giving away power
to individuals, professionals and communities
Right to
Challenge
Right to Bid
Neighbourhoo
d planning
Big Society - people, neighbourhoods and communities
have more power and responsibility and use it to
create better services and outcomes

44. Right to Bid

45. The Right to Bid
• The aim is to make it easier for community
groups to take over buildings and land.
• Already councils can transfer assets to
community groups
• The Act aims to broaden this to properties that
are privately owned and owned by other public
bodies

46. Right to Bid:
• 778 attempts to nominate an Asset of
Community Value, of which
• 558 successfully listed (i.e. accepted as
ACVs by the local authority)
• Still too early in the process to have much
case experience of people going through
the full process of purchase.
Information from www.mycommunityrights.org.uk

47. Right to Challenge:
• 29 organisations in the process of Challenging,
of which
• 22 formally submitted EOIs, of which
• 12 have run their full course, of which
• 2 were accepted and are going for tender, 9
were rejected, and 1 was withdrawn early by the
applicant.
Information from www.mycommunityrights.org.uk
See Handout to follow.

48. Neighbourhood Planning
• Gives a new right for
communities to draw
up a ‘neighbourhood
development plan’
• Is a part of the Big
Society initiative to
make decisions in
communities more
open

49. A N. P. can be used to:
• Develop a shared vision
for your neighbourhood.
• Choose where new
homes, shops, offices
and other development
should be built.
• Identify and protect
important local green
spaces.
• Influence what new
buildings should look like.

50. Who?
Neighbourhood planning will allow people to come together
through
• a local Parish Council
• or what are called 'neighbourhood forums'
and say where they think new houses, businesses and
shops should go – and what they should look like.
• These neighbourhood development plans could be very
simple, or go into considerable detail where people want.

51. Neighbourhood Plans: Update from
one agency
• 500 areas applied to
Planning Aid for
support
• Most are in the
south/south
west/home counties
• Few in deprived
urban areas
Information kindly provided by
Planning Aid
• Several waiting
referendum
• Several waiting
examination
• Only one plan
adopted

52. How Members can help: The Eight
Steps to producing a N.P.
1. Getting started
2. Identifying the issues
3. Develop a vision and objectives
4. Generate options
5. Draft your Neighbourhood Plan
6. Consultation and submission
7. Independent examination
8. Referendum and adoption

53. How Members can undermine np
• Want to run things in their area
• Choose your own leaders
• Presentation full of jargon
• Top down organising of the process
• See neighbourhood forum as a threat – set up parallel group with
elected member as chair
• Officers defensive
• Other ideas?

54. Holbeck – roles of Members in N.P.

55. N.P. in Holbeck, Leeds
Example that shows a more positive role
from Members
• Part of four front runners in Leeds
• Inner city deprived area in south Leeds
• Three wards, area designated
• N. Forum yet to be designated
• Took 18 months to set up

56. Roles of Members in N.P.
• Background support
• Guidelines on how
to get area designated
• Access to officers
„Don‟t suggest too much‟

57. New roles for Front Line Members?
Need for a new emphasis, acting as
community leaders, created by, for
example:
• new opportunities linked to Localism
• working more closely in partnerships
• building strengths in communities to take
initiatives, tackle problems and provide
services

58. The Member as community leader
• The LGA has useful guidelines on
councillors as community leaders
• They identify a number of key roles,
developed by LGIU
• These could be used to develop your
authority’s own version of community
leadership for Members

59. The roles of front line Members as
community leaders – a ‘menu’
• Making things happen
• Involving communities
• Enabling decisionmaking
• Building bridges
• Developing long term
relationships
• Building local
leadership

60. Activity
Please use the Star Chart on Community
Leadership to describe:
• Your roles as an officer if you work directly
with communities OR
• The roles adopted by an Elected Member
you know in their ward/area.

61. Localism and the Six
Leadership Roles: Discussion
• How can we use the six roles in the
context of Localism?
• What new challenges will Members face in
acting more as community leaders?
• How can we develop a more strategic
approach to engagement in the current
climate?

62. A strategic approach to Community
Engagement in the current climate
• From the current opportunities and two main ‘drivers’
there is a need to build stronger communities
• Where local groups and active residents can solve
problems, provide services and take initiatives to
improve community life.
• Building stronger communities can be a major focus of
the work of Elected Members, using the community
leadership set of roles
• Needs a wider framework at strategic level

63. Strategic Guidance for Community Planning Partnerships:
Community Learning and Development
‘It is important to be clear about the
purpose of CLD. We see it as
empowering people, individually and
collectively, to make positive changes
in their lives and in their communities,
through learning.’

64. Scotland – example of a strategic
approach
• Dundee, Fife, Perth and Kinross and
Angus.
• Aim to develop skills in Needs
Assessment and Community Engagement.
• November 2013 and March 2014
• Training, advice, mentoring, facilitation
• Outcome: a strategy in each authority to
build stronger communities

65. The Four Themes for Stronger
Communities
Building
Skills
Building
Organisations
Building
Involvement
Building
Equality

66. The Four Building Blocks
• The four themes originate in a model devised in Scotland by the
Scottish Centre for Community Development
• Developed in Bradford and published by CDF as Assessing
Community Strengths by Mandy Wilson and Steve Skinner
• Published in a new handbook Building Stronger Communities 2013
www.scdc.org.uk
• The four blocks can be used at both practice and policy levels in and
with communities
• They can also be applied to public sector organisations.

67. Building
Skills
Skills is short hand for:
•
•
•
•
•
Skills
Knowledge
Ways of working
Experience
Confidence
It can partly be about
releasing what is
already there in
communities
Forms of learning such as:
Training, seminars,
conferences
Visits, peer learning, action
learning
Coaching, mentoring
Shadowing, placements
Resource packs, on line
learning

68. Building Skills with ‘community
representatives’ Wakefield
• The leadership
programme for the
Wakefield Assembly ran
between October 2012
and March 2013.
• It trained 30 people in the
art of being a ‘stronger
voice’
• To add insights, views,
perspectives, local
information

69. Building Skills: Wakefield example
• The art of being a community
representative
• Leadership Skills
• Partnership and team working skills
• Understanding and facilitating groups
• Confidence building
• Understanding public services

70. Building
Organisations
• Community groups and
networks are more than
just the individuals that
make them up
• They also consist of
structures, systems,
arrangements, traditions,
links, policies and
practices
• Building the organisation
itself

71. Building
Organisations
Why do groups ask for organisational support?
• A crisis e.g. need to diversify/change
• Members leaving/unhappy/new people not
joining
• Growth in numbers/activities
• New funding demands/opportunities
• Lost direction
• Develop a network or partnership

72. Building Organisations
• The partnership in
Blackburn – the
Members helped to
start and develop a
new resident led
partnership

73. The Four Key Elements of
Building Stronger Communities
• So far – skills and organisations
• Looks at individual learning and
organisational development needs
• But BSC is not a ‘technical fix’ to address
deficits
• It’s also about empowerment, about
involvement and about values.

74. Activity
With someone else
near you, please talk
about:
From your personal or
work experience,
what does
empowerment mean
to you?

75. Definitions of empowerment
• People having influence - Labour Government 2009
White Paper Communities in Control
• Communities running public services -Building a
Stronger Civil Society from Office for Civil Society
October 2010
• Communities taking action - The Scottish Government
defines ‘community empowerment’ as:
“A process where people work together to make change
happen in their communities by having more power and
influence over what matters to them.”

76. Definitions of empowerment
• Critical understanding causes of
deprivation and discrimination – Paulo
Freire
• Psychological experience of confidence
and self-esteem – assertiveness
training/women’s movement

77. Building
Involvement
• This is about activities
and change that focus
on how people get
involved in their
communities
• It’s also about how
groups and networks
involve people and
contribute to local
decision-making

78. Building Equality
• Will building skills, organisations and
involvement only strengthen existing powerful
groups in the community?
• Will groups on the margins be involved?
• Will some groups feel more empowered while
leaving out others?

79. Building Equality –
three issues to address
Building Equality in
community groups
Equal opportunities
Diversity
Cohesion

80. Building Equality
Examples:
Grants funding for
community groups
and voluntary sector
in Bradford after the
riots – criteria
included access to
different identity
groups
Neighbourhoods
Learning Together
North West
Birmingham
Urban Living Housing
Partnership and Fircroft
College
2012

81. Using the four themes
Please discuss how you could use the four themes
in your work with communities - this can happen
at a number of levels, such as:
• A: With one community group
• B: With a range of community groups in one
neighbourhood
• C: Across a whole district

82. Planning at district level using the
four building blocks
• Bradford Council worked
jointly with third sector
groups to develop a new
strategy for capacity
building
• A new partnership
involved over 200
community groups and
many different agencies
• Looked at building
capacity in both
communities and the
public sector
Building
Communities
Strategy
Bradford

83. The Four Building Blocks of CCB
Building
Skills
Building
Organisations
Building
Involvement
Building
Equality

84. Concluding points
• Current practice provides examples of
different approaches to engagement
• Each approach has different pros and
cons
• Members have key roles to play as
community leaders
• Need for a strategic framework