What are learning points?
Learning points share what people have learned from their experience in regeneration - from people working or talking together, or from research into issues and evaluation of what is happening. Learning points can help people and organisations to improve their practice through identifying what works and what doesn't.
The views described in learning points do not mean that the Scottish Centre for Regeneration, the Scottish Government or SURF necessarily support them. They are a summarised reflection of the presentations and resultant debate amongst the invited participants involved in the event. The format is intended to draw out potentially useful learning points from the usefully diverse perspectives and experience of the participants.
What is this learning point about?
The key messages in this learning point arose at a workshop event delivered in partnership by the Scottish Government through its Community Regeneration and Tackling Poverty Learning Network and SURF, Scotland's independent regeneration network in March 2010. The participative workshop brought together a range of relevant practitioners to draw on their experience and knowledge in order to explore key issues and lessons for continuing successful place-based regeneration.
The focal point of the event was the recognition that sustaining area-based approaches to regeneration and anti-poverty activity remains an important priority. National and local government demonstrated their joint commitment to this agenda in the policy statement 'Equal Communities in a Fairer Scotland'.
Practitioners face a changing landscape in light of factors such as adapting to the roll-up of the Fairer Scotland Fund resources into all local authorities general revenue funding in 2010-11 and the broader financial pressures on local authorities in their lead role of facilitating the delivery of 'local regeneration'. Practitioners were asked: In the current context, how can we continue to address the pockets of complex multiple deprivation which persist in our communities?
The event format included three introductory keynote speakers who provided practitioners with a variety of research and policy perspectives. Their informative inputs were followed by facilitated discussion groups and a plenary feedback session designed to share and draw out the experience and knowledge of the participants.
The key speakers were as follows:
- Dr Jim McCormick, Scotland Adviser, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (FRF)
- Professor Dave Adamson, Director, Centre for Regeneration Excellence (Wales)
- Richard Wallace, Regeneration Division, Scottish Government
The small group discussions focused on:
- How can practitioners best sustain a local balance between a place-based and a people-based focus in the current climate?
- What lessons can be taken from previous regeneration initiatives?
- What additional links or innovations could be considered to better support a place-based focus?
What do we know already?
- Numerous academic studies, including JRF commissioned research, have consistently confirmed the multi-layered nature of poverty in specific geographic areas and the continuing challenge of effectively addressing place based community regeneration.
- The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) has been used to inform the targeting of place based regeneration resources and policies. The latest update was published in October 2009.
- In 2007, the Scottish Government confirmed its intention to address poverty in Scotland's communities through its overarching priorities of solidarity, cohesion and participation.
- As confirmed in the Government's concordat with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (CoSLA), local authorities have the key role of facilitating the delivery of local regeneration strategies. This is principally driven via Community Planning Partnerships (CPPs) and Single Outcome Agreements which identify local regeneration outcomes and specify how local authorities and their community planning partners will deliver these outcomes.
- The £435 million Fairer Scotland Fund (FSF) is a Scottish Government resource allocated to all 32 local authorities and their community planning partners over the three years to March 2011 to support local partnerships to regenerate communities, tackle poverty and improve employment prospects.
- The ring-fence associated with FSF resources ended in March 2010 and is rolled-up into local authorities' general revenue funding for 2010-11.
- At the end of 2009, the Scottish Government and CoSLA agreed a joint statement and action plan to continue tackling multiple deprivation in disadvantaged communities in the new regeneration context.
What have we learned?
Devolution has enabled some positive impacts in tackling multiple deprivation in the different constituent parts of the UK
The JRF study, Devolution's Impact On Low Income People and Places, was commissioned to examine the effect of devolved policy mechanisms on area-based regeneration efforts within the four constituent parts of the UK. The study identified some positive impacts from the regeneration policies of devolved administrations with the exception of Northern Ireland. It concluded that, without such locally relevant policies, some disadvantaged places in Scotland, England and Wales would be more likely to have declined further over the last ten years.
In a separate review of the Scottish context, a Scottish Government appointed 'Tackling Poverty' board analysed the 2008 anti-poverty framework Achieving Our Potential to explore the key policy commitments. A total of 43 commitments were identified, of which 11 were identified as being potentially 'high impact' in improving the income of the lowest 30% band in Scotland.
It was noted that most of these potential impacts fall within devolved powers, eg income maximisation, 16-plus learning choices, energy assistance, financial capability, affordable housing. A key challenge is to ensure that these policies are effectively translated into practice and are high impact in reality.
There is a need for enhanced analysis and evaluation
Participants identified the importance of SIMD, but agreed that more investment in analysis of the raw data at a local level would be useful. This would allow practitioners to identify why datazones have changed their relative position in terms of poverty and deprivation. It was also suggested that given the potential long term impact of economic forces such as the recession, the SIMD indicators should be analysed in more detail to better understand what lies behind its broader messages.
A long time-frame is required to accurately study the impacts of regeneration policies. For example, it is now over 20 years since the New Life for Urban Scotland initiative launched in 1988, but the long-lasting effects of this investment are still to be fully explored. The better the quality of evidence, the bigger the potential longer-term impact. This should motivate regeneration projects to invest in wider and more difficult evaluations.
We need to be fully aware of evaluation evidence to use it to its full potential when informing investment decisions. Some apparently low-impact programmes, like Working For Families, actually add huge value because they assist those furthest from the labour market. Tools such as contributions analysis can be useful to help address questions such as: What is the contribution of elements such as fuel bills and council tax to poverty? What is the 'poverty premium' (the cost of being in a low-income household in a relatively affluent area)?
Community regeneration is a mixture of place and people-based approaches
Participants felt it is not a question of either/or. A place-based focus and a people-based one are normally complimentary. A pragmatic approach to addressing both is therefore essential in successful and sustainable regeneration efforts.
Participants recognised the benefits of place based regeneration efforts in raising the horizon of individual and community opportunities and connections for disadvantaged communities. It was argued that more effective community engagement and capacity building could be best achieved by initially building on what communities have and what they value, rather than on what they lack or feel disengaged from.
Tackling multiple deprivation requires concerted multi-dimension approaches
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. Approaches in such areas should be informed by coordinated methods to improve specific aspects such as community cohesion and addiction services.
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.
Working through successful partnerships remains crucial but challenging
In the current economic climate, 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. While partnership remains an important element in most successful place based regeneration initiatives, it is important to be as frank and honest as possible in recognising and accommodating stakeholders' varying interests and priorities. Achieving sufficient speed of change to respond to the challenges of the changed economic climate in a timely way is a challenge given the complexity of some of the partnership structures.
Longer term funding can mean longer term benefits
Deep seated regeneration issues often span generations. To encourage major 10-20 year regeneration commitments we need more than one to three year funding cycles. Successful regeneration projects can be potentially impacted by the unpredictability of policy and resources changes through the electoral cycle. Attempts should be made to protect these projects to enable real change in the long term.
To go beyond short-term funding cycles, an 'act of faith' is required. Delegates felt that policy-makers and funders should recognise this and be prepared to go outside their comfort zone and take more risks. Equally, delegates voiced the opinion that there may be some scope for exploring the potential for a cross party political commitment to secure a sustainable approach to delivering regeneration locally.
Government policy changes offer opportunities and challenges
The new regeneration context led to Equal Communities in a Fairer Scotland, the joint agreement and action plan between Scottish Government and CoSLA (2009). Both partners agreed that they should cooperate wherever possible to speed up and maximise regeneration impacts. The Scottish Government has responded to calls for greater local authority autonomy and less ring fencing of funds and related micro-management of processes.
Ring fencing of the Fairer Scotland Fund ended in March 2010. It was highlighted in discussion groups that there requires to be trust within any new approach as delivery partners work to justify their investment decisions locally. It will undoubtedly encourage robust local discussion across all local authority areas about the best way of addressing the challenges being faced in their communities.
Participants felt that Single Outcome Agreements as the key drivers of achieving agreed outcomes should take into account not only traditional areas suffering the effects of multiple deprivation but also those areas that are likely to become deprived in future. This is in keeping with making early interventions, one of the key principles highlighted in Equal Communities in a Fairer Scotland.
CPPs need to ensure that all relevant partners are fully engaged in the process. Anchor organisations like community-based housing associations and development trusts can play a role in bridging information gaps and increasing participation at the community level. Strong leadership and excellent community planning practice continue to be key to longer-term success of this outcome based approach.
There is a need to build and improve upon the relationship between work, education and regeneration
Tracking progress in tackling worklessness across the decades in disadvantaged areas shows that policies are generally effective. Worklessness is generally reduced, but the problem of short-term work/benefits cycle remains.
The group that generally tends to suffer most at times of rising unemployment is the lowest qualified workers, i.e. young unskilled people. Discussion groups raised the need to work proactively with the education sector to reduce the numbers of young people leaving school that may potentially become vulnerable young adults. This is especially important in the face of the recession. Earlier work experience, volunteering opportunities, and a greater focus on life skills could be part of such a review.
Participants felt that the breaking of intergenerational poverty cycles is a central challenge. Schools have an increasingly important role in both raising the expectations and aspirations of young people as well as in assisting them to achieve successful learning outcomes.
There was some optimism on the potential of the impending changes under the 'Curriculum for Excellence' to help deliver on this substantial challenge.
Mainstreaming successful practice is a priority now and in the future
Mainstreaming has proved challenging in recent years, even during periods of relative financial certainty. The need to ensure long term mainstream support remains key to delivering successful local initiatives. The evidence base of successful mainstreaming examples also needs to be strengthened.
Some participants agreed that the recession presents a challenge to work harder at mainstreaming successes and thereby securing long-term benefits. However, other participants were uncertain as to whether this opportunity is likely to be fully realised in the current financial climate.
Despite the challenging climate, we should still make time to learn
The economic climate can increasingly demand the delivery of impacts in a short time-frame. This can lead to pressure on other areas such as research and evaluation. Practitioners should expand their knowledge base outside Scotland. There is a lot of good work going on in the rest of the UK and Europe that can be easily and inexpensively studied online. The Community Regeneration and Tackling Poverty Learning Network, for example, is currently exploring and highlighting European approaches to reducing poverty.
Learning should also take place between regeneration fields of activity. An employability project, for example, should not limit sources for learning to other employability projects. There is much to be learned on achieving, recording and building on shared outcomes.
National and local government in Scotland remains committed to area-based regeneration
The evidence is that Scottish Government, and local authorities, are still committed to area-based regeneration. Representatives welcomed the JRF research that demonstrates the positive impacts of this approach.
'Sustainable development' is a headline policy agenda that informs all regeneration decisions in local and national government. In the current climate, continued funding is likely to be more dependent on demonstration that sustainability is successfully built into community regeneration interventions.
What next?
The Learning Network will provide support and help people to exchange information and ideas. This will include organising further events to share good practice; identifying and publishing information about case studies; and developing other opportunities for sharing experiences through study visits and working groups.
You can join the Learning Network online at Partners in Regeneration www.partnersinregeneration.com or contact Heather Smith, Learning Network Co-ordinator, on 0141 271 3736.
SURF will also continue to explore this theme in its own programme of events and publications. Further information on SURF and its work is available on the SURF website www.scotregen.co.uk.
Further information
Equal Communities in a Fairer Scotland: A Joint Statement. Scottish Government and CoSLA (2009) http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/1031/0088727.pdf
Equal Communities in a Fairer Scotland: Action Plan. Scottish Government and CoSLA (2009) http://tinyurl.com/EqCommAP
Devolution's Impact on Low Income People and Places. Joseph Rowntree Foundation (2010) http://www.jrf.org.uk/publications/impact-of-devolution
Achieving Our Potential: A Framework to Tackle Poverty and Inequality in Scotland. Scottish Government (2008) http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/246055/0069426.pdf
Scottish Government Tackling Poverty Board
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/People/Social-Inclusion/TacklingPovertyBoard
Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/SIMD
SURF website
www.scotregen.co.uk
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
Scottish Centre for Regeneration
Scottish Government
Highlander House
58 Waterloo Street
Glasgow
G2 7DA
Tel: 0141 271 3736
Email: contactscr@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
Website: www.partnersinregeneration.com
The views expressed in learning points are not necessarily shared by the Scottish Centre for Regeneration or the Scottish Government.
April 2010