We must keep the standards flying

But two things strike me about the description of this review. First, the omission of housing from the list – perhaps this is a drafting error? Second, the notable absence from the draft and, I suspect, from the thinking, of the capacity of the communities themselves.

It will be argued that this is taken care of in other programmes, but is it? Where is the review of the capacity of local communities to respond to the many issues local people face individually and collectively? We should pay as much attention to the capacity of local communities as to the capacity of professionals. If we are formulating approaches to staff development, we have protocols and processes such as Investors in People. The idea that one should have a set of standards for developing the skills of the people who work in an organisation is now unchallenged. Investors in People has played its part in creating a framework of good practice against which organisations can be tested.

In the area that people value the most, the quality of their neighbourhood, such approaches are in their infancy. Cynics could see the development of the Investors in Communities standard, now being piloted in 24 areas, as yet another badge to be aspired to. However, my experience of it has been rather more positive, especially seeing the way some local communities have grasped the idea.

The idea that this standard could be applied to both landlords and communities themselves is a radical one, and the ability of community organisations to aspire to a set of accredited standards that could perhaps enhance their ability to raise finance is an idea worthy of attention and further work. It is important to recognise that landlords are not synonymous with the communities they serve and that those communities may well wish to pursue different objectives or approaches to the development of the place in which they live.

My experience of Investors in Communities is that it is more than yet another badge to be aspired to – some communities have really grasped the idea

This is a crucial element in working with people to help strengthen their community networks and not create dependencies on a landlord or any other organisation. There are many beacons of excellent activity in the whole area of helping individuals and communities to develop themselves but it is yet to hit the mainstream as an activity.

It may well be that the plethora of funding regimes and programmes, specialist agencies and, sometimes, confusion about the role of the community as consumer or citizen, all have a role to play in making this crucial area of activity difficult to deliver in a meaningful way that strengthens and develops local communities.

There is also a growing body of research suggesting that regeneration programmes focused on economic activity can have the unintended effect of promoting movement away from the area among those who are the most articulate and entrepreneurial. This is because as they benefit from economic renewal, they often seek to move to a better area. It is essential to create options that persuade those people to stay.

Work to create a set of standards for activities to invest in communities is under way in many places. A very helpful way forward would be to bring together the vast amount of experience and expertise from communities themselves and those who work within communities to establish a detailed set of best practice activities against which future proposals can be evaluated.