Better coordination will aid regeneration

As the Social Exclusion Unit prepares to release its final policy action team reports, two new pieces of research from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation spell out a clear message to government. Better co-ordination of strategy and more resources to enable local communities are essential if the national strategy for neighbourhood renewal is to succeed, they warn.

Research by Professor Marilyn Taylor insists that local regeneration work must be fully integrated into regional and national policies.

Writing in this week's Housing Today, Taylor says: "If it is to tie the energies of people living and working in excluded areas back into the mainstream economy, neighbourhood management will need to be integrated with regional and national economic development strategies. Otherwise social housing will continue to be the place where those energies are written off."

Elsewhere the Joseph Rowntree Foundation calls for a £20m a year "neighbourhood empowerment fund" to be set up with Single Regeneration Budget and National Lottery funding. Consultants Pete Duncan and Sally Thomas warn that regions with little tradition of community involvement still appear to be lagging behind in terms of attracting funding for capacity building.

The fund would enable local communities to articulate their priorities and develop their skills, Duncan and Thomas argue. They say: "The national strategy for neighbourhood renewal will place a heavy emphasis on involving local communities in the planning, implementation and management process. But this won't happen unless it is properly resourced."

At the launch of the reports, Jon Bright, head of the New Deal for Communities Unit and formerly deputy head of the Social Exclusion Unit, said government would support neighbourhood management programmes both on a national and regional level. But he warned better co-ordination was needed if initiatives were not to fail as they had in the past. "It's a tough job that won't come easily," he said.