One thing we've been hearing again and again in conversations with councils up and down the country about Pride in Place, the Government's flagship neighbourhood programme, is how do we actually learn about what works from the neighbourhood regeneration programmes that came before?
From coastal towns to big cities, the evidence from our research at 3ni and the resident-led Big Local programme is clear and stark. Neighbourhoods facing the ‘double disadvantage' of high levels of poverty and weak civic infrastructure experience worse outcomes compared to equally disadvantaged, but better connected and resourced neighbourhoods.
It's over a decade of hard-won experience and practical insights from 150 neighbourhoods involved in Big Local that 3ni is using to help local councils shape their Pride in Place plans.
After waves of austerity, Covid, the cost-of-living crisis – you name it – it's no wonder trust is low and social capital has taken a hammering.
And that matters. When communities lack the capacity, networks and support to shape decisions about their own streets and lead the change they want to see – or believe that things can really change – neighbourhood regeneration becomes harder.
But here's the hopeful part. Big Local, the country's biggest resident-led, long-term neighbourhood regeneration programme, has shown that when residents are genuinely backed with power (not just consulted) they can be the catalyst to set the pace and the direction of change.
This is why asset-based community development works. Because it starts from the ground up. With what people and communities already have – the skills, pride and ideas that are often hiding in plain sight. And when you combine that with asset-backed investment that keeps wealth in the local economy, you get the essential ingredients for change that will outlast any programme or funding cycle.
In his forward to the strategy, published in September, the secretary of state described Pride in Place as ‘a whole of government pilot in sharing power' and a ‘new way of governing'.
Let's hope it sets out how councils can support the local neighbourhood leadership that's needed to achieve this. That really would feel like Christmas come early.
Dan Crowe is Director of 3ni (The national network for neighbourhood improvement)
