There was much celebration from councils and their allies in the community power movement last month at the Government's announcement of a new funding programme, Pride in Place. And rightly so – the fund represents a step change on several fronts, not least the Government coming good on its promise to end ‘competition style' funding and, instead, embracing a methodology which favours the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods. This sense of excitement can already be witnessed in the many new conversations happening in councils and communities because of the funding.
But local pride doesn't exist in isolation; real, sustained community power can only exist within a framework of strong local public services – safe streets, decent public spaces, transport links, housing and services that make everyday life work. If councils are not able to provide these foundations for a good relationship with their communities, even the best initiatives will struggle to build lasting pride in place.
The Pride in Place approach gets a lot right. It recognises that people know their own places best, that civic pride comes from participation and that relatively small sums can spark big change when spent locally. Many of the community success stories of recent years have started this way and these stories matter. They build confidence, create social connection and show what's possible when local imagination is trusted.
But community pride can't be sustained on enthusiasm alone. While Pride in Place envisions councils as the ‘accountable body and partner' for the neighbourhood boards that will identify and deliver projects, the funding itself is – rightly – structured around people and places, rather than on uplifting local authority capacity to support them. In other words, councils do have a seat at the table in Pride in Place, but it will be very different from what they're used to. This is, of course, a golden opportunity for both local authorities and communities to explore how they can share power, but it will be a new one for some.
At New Local, we know – from our work with our member councils and beyond – that some of the biggest champions of community power sit within our local authorities. Day in, day out, we speak to officers at every level who know instinctively that the people who have the insights needed to shape their places for the better are the ones who walk their streets every day. Through our work we have the immense privilege of seeing how councils unlock that community power in the most innovative and imaginative of ways.
But rising demand, falling funding and increasing pressures on statutory services mean that, for years now, precious little has been left for the teams that knit places together – the planners, regeneration officers, community engagement staff and local economic leads who turn ambition into delivery.
That's why so many places are now looking at new ways to do more with what they do have, and working with communities to make sure the money they spend is targeted to the people and places that need it most. Community wealth building, neighbourhood working and exploring total place-style pooling of budgets are all ways that innovative councils are using the resources and power they and their local partners have at their disposal to ensure better outcomes for their places.
Pride in Place is a brilliant step in the right direction of funding that recognises the interdependence between community empowerment and council capacity. If it can be operationalised in a way that kickstarts meaningful collaboration between communities and local authorities then we'll be in truly exciting territory: projects that are aligned with local need and owned by local people but supported by professional expertise, resources and data, and integrated into wider plans for place.
And it's important that they do. Councils remain the only bodies with both the democratic mandate and the data to look across a whole place and weigh up competing priorities. They can see the connections between a new community garden and the need for active travel routes; between a heritage project and local employment needs.
When enabled to function properly, councils have both the ability and the responsibility to ensure that investment reaches the areas of greatest need. And, crucially, that democratic mandate brings accountability. Residents know where decisions are made and, to many a politician's chagrin, what action to take at the ballot box when things go wrong.
When councils and communities work together, they amplify each other's strengths – councils bring the resources, strategy and long-term view, communities bring energy, insight and trust. That combination is what turns pride into progress.
Pride in Place is a brilliant step in the right direction of funding that recognises the interdependence between community empowerment and council capacity. If it can be operationalised in a way that kickstarts meaningful collaboration between communities and local authorities then we'll be in truly exciting territory: projects that are aligned with local need and owned by local people but supported by professional expertise, resources and data, and integrated into wider plans for place. The long-term nature of the Pride in Place model is welcome in this regard. It opens up the possibility of a wider process of change, through projects that begin to reconfigure the power relationships between communities and the local state.
Pride grows when people see lasting improvements in the places they love – when streets are cared for, services are reliable and opportunities feel shared. That requires councils with the means and mandate to do their job, working alongside empowered communities that bring those places to life. We shouldn't have to choose between them. Real pride in place needs both.
Helen Power is director of partnerships and engagement at New Local
