Scottish Government

Background

This briefing paper captures messages relating to the three main priorities agreed for the Community Regeneration and Tackling Poverty Learning Network:

• embedding an outcomes based approach in anti poverty and regeneration activities
• tackling complex needs
• adapted to a new context for regeneration - global recession, budget reductions

It draws from other SCR publications, developed in collaboration with our key partners, which include: learning points, case studies, guides, scoping studies and other briefing papers. These describe in more detail the main issues and lessons learned from the learning network programmes.

It is intended primarily to provide feedback to policy colleagues in Government. It highlights major issues facing practitioners and shares the main lessons and learning which can help inform policy decision making and continue to improve practice.

Learning network priorities

From the initial stakeholder discussions and the network launch event in January 2009 those interested in joining or working with the network identified three key priorities:

• The outcomes based approach, and the publication of the three social policy frameworks, provides an opportunity for those delivering community regeneration and tackling poverty. However the success of this new approach will depend upon Community Planning Partnerships being able to embed an outcomes approach in resource allocation, strategy and delivery and as well as across all partner organisations.
• Many issues faced within regeneration are interlinked and require a particular way of working across issues. These areas of complex needs can only be dealt with by effectively learning from the past, understanding the current situation through the likes of poverty profiling and developing a more comprehensive range of supports to tackle the major issues in areas such as financial inclusion and child poverty.
• Community Planning Partnerships (CPPs) are working in a new context for regeneration given the removal of the ring fence from the Fairer Scotland Fund and the effects of the global recession. If they are to successfully tackle the issues facing areas of multiple deprivation, CPPs need to work harder to make the case for investment decisions locally and mainstream key services. To do this they have to make better use of data to identify problem areas and issues and to make the case for interventions from other funding streams and programmes.

1. About embedding outcomes:

What are the issues?

• Fully engaging all relevant partners. The building and maintenance of trust and respect through partnership working will be crucial in striving to reach sufficient consensus on difficult decisions around budgets, service reorganisation and targeting. It is important to be as frank and honest as possible in recognising and accommodating stakeholders' varying interests and priorities. Organisations need to think beyond their own budgets and be willing to share resources with others to find the best ways of jointly tackling inequalities.

• Working with increasing demand and reducing resources. Making and communicating decisions about priorities is a key aspect of effective leadership and governance. In the current economic climate, prioritisation is becoming of increasing importance within the public sector as the impact of the recession has brought into ever sharper focus the need for CPPs to effectively agree, communicate and implement their key priorities for tackling poverty and regenerating deprived communities.
• Working effectively in partnership. In a challenging financial climate there can be concerns over sharing resources and it can be difficult to dedicate time to partnership working. However, the achievement of outcomes, despite the climate, demands greater efficiency, integration and the ability for a partnership to achieve 'more than the sum of its parts'. There is an increasing recognition of the need to focus on customer needs, the interdependency between organisations, effective models of governance, and a shared accountability for the achievement of outcomes.
• Setting realistic targets. Achieving outcomes in tackling disadvantage means addressing complex, entrenched and interconnected issues such as discrimination, stigma, lack of resilience and low aspirations which can take a long time to address. Local authorities and their CPPs need to set appropriate short and medium term milestones as well as focusing on long- term outcomes.

What can be done?

• Get the key characteristics of an effective 'outcomes based approach' in place. An effective approach will be results focused and concerned with the impact achieved or difference made rather than process. It must be evidence-based and focused on the needs of the individual or the community rather than what might best suit service delivery organisations. It should encourage holistic, joined-up approaches and show a shift to early intervention and preventative measures.
• Develop and maintain the right support for outcomes. Strong and effective leadership is essential in this process. Developing and communicating a shared vision and strategic priorities acts as a framework around which specifications, protocols and outcomes can be built. Involving partners in the design process and encouraging effective participation in delivery is vital, as is ensuring transparency and accountability.
• Identify effective prioritisation within CPP activity. Prioritisation is about making choices and decisions should be made within the agreed governance arrangements, including appropriate active input from elected members. Having a strong and coherent set of priority outcomes drawn from the partnership's area profile will be a good starting point. The most effective prioritisation tends to occur when it is carried out in a robust and transparent manner, taking proper account of a range of factors, including the available evidence base and the views of stakeholders. Importantly, having taken decisions on agreed priorities, it is then vital that those priorities are communicated effectively. A mechanism to assess the likely impact of any potential budget or staffing cuts on these outcomes will also be of central importance.
• Select appropriate and available outcome-focused indicators. The data used within an outcome based approach must be a relevant measure to the outcome being sought and be easily captured at a local level and be available on a regular basis. The starting point for selecting an outcome-focused indicator lies in having a clear understanding and articulation of the outcome itself. Technical issues should be taken into account such as the overall robustness of the data, confidence intervals and seasonal fluctuations. The process should be undertaken in an open and inclusive manner within a partnership, encouraging discussion on the merits of potential indicators and seeking to build consensus.
• Achieve collaborative gain. An effective outcomes based approach can give a clear understanding of the added value being achieved through the partnership. However, collaborative gain rarely occurs by chance. Rather, the gain anticipated needs to be clear and specific, organised around an outcome and planned for in advance. This should include both an agreed and achievable action plan, which clarifies responsibility and accountability for delivering the desired outcomes and a partnership performance management framework which regularly assesses progress towards the achievement of agreed outcomes. Crucially, the benefit of working in collaboration with other organisations requires to outweigh the inevitable costs and challenges that can arise from partnership working.

2. About tackling complex needs:

What are the issues?

• Delivering effective financial inclusion and capability interventions will be key as Scotland progresses through the aftermath of the recession. The debt hangover and the aftermath of the global recession will remain with us for some time and demand for money advice, accessible financial products and financial capability activity is unlikely to fall quickly. Low income groups, including low paid workers, are likely to remain particularly vulnerable. Pressure for change will come through tighter public sector funding, new technological developments and different levels of need for support.
• Making best use of devolved and reserved powers to deliver effective solutions. While Westminster powers on taxes, benefits and employment policies will remain the major drivers of policy, decisions taken by Holyrood, local authorities and the voluntary sector can add significant value. Tackling poverty is a complex task requiring much greater co-ordination between departments and levels of government. Key interventions for Scottish Government which could have significant impact include income maximisation, 16-plus learning choices, energy assistance, financial capability and affordable housing.
• Ensuring effective local delivery. Poverty has many component parts and traditional service areas such as education, crime, transport can have a big impact. CPPs need to have the skills to be able to make the links across these traditional areas and translate high level strategy into reality. To support this some elected members may require support to understand the wide ranging implications of their decisions in terms of poverty.
• It is crucial that CPPs act quickly to protect the most vulnerable when decisions on priorities and budget constraints are taken. Good work has been done over the past 10 years at a local level to help improve the lives of the most vulnerable in our communities. Central and local government must work together to ensure that this good work is reinforced not reversed.
• Making the switch from crisis management to early intervention. A real focus on early intervention can have a significant impact on child poverty and long term life chances. However, this could require a significant shift in some organisational culture and a redirection of resources from crisis management in a way which doesn't disadvantage people experiencing difficulties now.

What can be done?

• Share experiences of the commitment to early intervention approaches. For early intervention to be successful, it needs to be supported by experience and evidence being shared at the local and national level. This requires knowledge about both the root causes of inequality and the impact that early intervention can have. Clear-sightedness, long term confidence and, above all, strong adaptive leadership is essential.
• Keep approaches client centred. People may suffer from a variety of complex problems in relation to poverty. Approaches to advice and support that put the client at the centre are important and reinforce the need for partnership working in this field. This may include dealing with issues around financial inclusion, income maximisation, disability, fuel poverty, poor housing, mental health issues or long term ill health. A one size fits all approach is not effective and services need to work across traditional boundaries to reach excluded groups more effectively.
• Use poverty profiling to gain a fuller understanding of local poverty. Poverty profiling can be a useful tool to stimulate or cement support for local anti-poverty activity. This is achieved by focusing on the poverty that matters most to a community of interest and identifying the causes, key problems and solutions. The poverty profile should not merely be a report of quantitative data. To capture the essence, impact and nature of poverty, consideration should also be given to the inclusion of qualitative evidence to complement the overview that numbers can provide. Similarly, the true value of a poverty profile is when it is an integral part of a process to inform decision-making.
• Use poverty impact assessments (PIA) to show the consequences of decisions and interventions. As a tool PIA may allow CPPs to balance the books financially but do so in a fair and measured manner to protect those most vulnerable in our local areas and the services which support them. In some cases PIA doesn't mean that unpopular decisions aren't taken. However, it demonstrates that the potential negative impacts were considered; a measure put in place to mitigate those impacts and allows decision makers to fully justify their process if challenged.
• In an ideal situation impact assessment would be carried out across the full range of Single Outcome Agreement activity as poverty is a fragmented and complex issue. When assessment is being carried out the correct people must be round the table. Decision makers cannot make plans based solely on previous trends or behaviours they need to look forward at the changing environment that the recession has created.

3. About the new context for regeneration:

What are the issues?

• Mainstreaming successful practice. The evidence base of successful mainstreaming examples needs to be strengthened. This has proved challenging in recent years during a period of relative financial certainty, it may prove to be even more difficult as the country comes out of recession. Mainstreaming support demands a process of continuous local learning alongside an ongoing commitment to delivering the right service in the right place.
• Creating a balanced, joined up approach between people and place based activity. Tackling inequality requires both area-focused and thematic activity. It should focus on reducing the gap between the most disadvantaged individuals and the rest of the population. In doing this there is a need for a balance between activity focused on disadvantaged areas - to break downward cycles, stigmatisation and long-term problems - and activity tackling people based thematic issues across the whole Community Planning Partnership.
• Maintaining long term commitment and vision. Practitioners and policy makers need to find ways to support longer term, holistic approaches to regeneration and avoid a narrow 'crime and grime' regeneration agenda in the face of the recession. Many disadvantaged areas have a unique mix of messy, complex problems that don't fit neatly into one regeneration initiative.
• Involving communities and individuals more in decision-making. Significant work has been undertaken by the Scottish Government to help improve community engagement and empowerment. However, some decision making structures within organisations could be more inclusive and effective in how they work with communities.

What can be done?

• Create a culture and structures that support greater flexibility and allows improved opportunities for mainstreaming. To support mainstreaming each council service or community planning partner should be encouraged to look beyond their core business and assess their impact and added value in the bigger picture. Partners should be active and pool resources to achieve desired outcomes. Changing priorities can be challenging and some tough decisions need to be made to ensure projects and services provide 'best fit' with outcomes in the future. Projects and services should be supported during this time to limit uncertainty during transition.
• Know how to make the case for regeneration and when to intervene. Research, scenario planning and economic or social forecasting can be used to monitor and assess when and what type of intervention may be required.
• Illustrating the cost of not investing in regeneration can help make the case by demonstrating the long-term economic, social and environmental impact of leaving a disadvantaged community to decline further. Investment in capacity-building skills among regeneration practitioners to improve the confidence and skills to develop alternative partnership models of local regeneration can be useful.
• Look out for innovative solutions involving a range of public and private sector delivery partners. All sectors are under pressure in the recession, including the private sector, resulting in stakeholders being potentially more open to working together and taking risks in partnership. Public, voluntary and community stakeholders can do more, both in terms of presenting arguments to local businesses, and involving these businesses in making a joint case to others.
• Be ready to take advantage of opportunities and be less risk averse. Although investment for regeneration may fall in some areas, new opportunities for success can be identified. For instance, a combination of cheap land and an accessible supply of labour can be very attractive to private businesses. Organisations should build up a 'bank' of ideas that can be called upon at short notice when political, social and or economic changes enhance their potential for delivery.
• Identify the benefits to services of community engagement and empowerment. Early intervention can be planned more effectively if practitioners know what the issues are and how people are experiencing inequalities. Policies that have the greatest impact deliver support to disadvantaged people, with minimum complexity. They are tailored to local needs and engage effectively with local stakeholders.

Scottish Centre for Regeneration

This document is published by the Scottish Centre for Regeneration, which is part of the Scottish Government. We support our public, private and voluntary sector delivery partners to become more effective at:

• regenerating communities and tackling poverty
• developing more successful town centres and local high streets
• creating and managing mixed and sustainable communities
• making housing more energy efficient
• managing housing more efficiently and effectively

We do this through:

• coordinating learning networks which bring people together to identify the challenges they face and to support them to tackle these through events, networking and capacity building programmes
• identifying and sharing innovation and practice through publishing documents detailing examples of projects and programmes and highlighting lessons learned
• developing partnerships with key players in the housing and regeneration sector to ensure that our activities meet their needs and support their work

What have we been doing during 2009 - 2011?

During the last two years, SCR has worked with our key partners to organise a series of events and activities to help practitioners share good practice and learn from others. Some of the events have been large scale (as in the launch event) but most have been smaller, focusing on creating greater opportunities for learning network users to actively participate in debate and engage with others from different backgrounds and settings.

Of particular note has been an innovative pilot project working with the Improvement Service to provide practical, tailored support to five Community Planning Partnerships across Scotland. The aim of the project is to effectively embed an outcomes based approach in CPPs with a focus on anti poverty and regeneration activities. There is no single prescriptive model for the work. The needs for each area were determined through a detailed scoping exercise. Thematic areas covered by the project include partnership working, improving the evidence base, prioritisation of outcomes and developing outcome focused action plans.

The network has also been the key delivery mechanism for the Equal Communities in a Fairer Scotland Action Plan. The plan supports the joint policy statement by the Scottish Government and CoSLA which sets out their commitment to working with local government and others to address the social and economic disparities that exist between our most deprived communities, entire local authority areas and the rest of Scotland.

In support of the activities organised we have published a range of documents, as outlined above, and also used our website to act as a knowledge portal by linking to other agencies' publications. And we have encouraged network members and others to keep in touch by subscribing to our e-bulletin and taking part in our on-line forum.

What next

SCR will review the activities and achievements of the learning network since its launch. This will allow us to determine the way forward and consider whether the current priorities are the right ones for the future or if the focus or emphasis should change. This process will take into account the outputs of the Regeneration Discussion Paper and allow policy makers, practitioners, academics and those directly involved in Community Regeneration and Tackling Poverty to participate and share their views.

Contact us

Tel: 0141 271 3736
Email: contactscr@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
www.partnersinregeneration.com

Heather Smith
Learning Network Co-ordinator
heather.smith@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
Tel: 0141 271 3735