SAFER AND STRONGER COMMUNITIES FUND NEIGHBOURHOOD ELEMENT

PROPOSALS FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF SSCF-NE

IN EAST MIDDLESBROUGH

MARCH 2006

1.Introduction

1.1This report outlines proposals for the delivery of SSCF-NE in Middlesbrough prepared by the SSCF-NE interim steering group. The report outlines:

  • the background to SSCF-NE
  • the area selected for intervention and reasons why
  • how the proposals have been developed
  • priority areas for intervention
  • neighbourhood management
  • community engagement
  • cleaner, safer, greener
  • young people
  • worklessness
  • health
  • proposed structures
  • neighbourhood forums
  • steering group/board
  • accountability body role
  • Middlesbrough Partnership & Safer Middlesbrough Partnership
  • outline budgets
  1. Background

2.1The Neighbourhood Element of the Safer and Stronger Community Fund was announced as part of the NRF settlement in August 2005.

2.2Middlesbrough was awarded two ‘blocks’ of SSCF-NE funding. The fund aims to improve the quality of life for people in the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods and ensuring services are more responsive to neighbourhood needs and improve their delivery (SSCF-NE guidance).

2.3Funding is targeted at Super Output Areas (SOAs) which are within the most 3% disadvantaged areas nationally. It is also meant to be used to target cohesive geographic areas, rather than being dispersed and fragmented.

2.4Each block of funding amounts to £1,599,600. Middlesbrough therefore has been awarded £3,199,200 over the coming four years 2006/07 to 2009/10.

3. Area for intervention - East Middlesbrough:

3.1 Given the criteria for the targeting for SSCF-NE a review of Middlesbrough’s SOAs in the most disadvantaged 3% nationally indicated that the fund could be most effectively targeted at East Middlesbrough. The size of the area allows for both funding blocks to be aligned together to form a single cohesive area.

3.2The delivery area for SSCF-NE (Appendix 1) forms a neat, cohesive target area for intervention. The area is bounded on the north and south by major roads and to the west and east by the railway line and Middlesbrough’s boundary respectively. Cargo Fleet Lane runs almost centrally through the delivery area.

3.3The area encompasses 11 of the 23 SOAs within Middlesbrough which fall within the top 3% of the most disadvantaged areas nationally, and contains 10,843 households with a population of 25,794. Erimus own 5,700 properties in East Middlesbrough forming 51% of Erimus housing stock in Middlesbrough.

3.4There has been previous major investment in East Middlesbrough, for example the 1993-1998City Challenge initiative which included the creation of the Berwick Hills Centre with new superstore, swimming pool and leisure facilities, youth clubs and library. More recently the area has also benefited from the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund. Community resources are plentiful and of a high quality (3 sports centres, swimming pool, 6 community centres). There is a substantial amount of community activity undertaken by agencies and voluntary groups.

3.5East Middlesbrough is a clearly understood geographic area for service providers for example PCT Health Teams; Children, Families and Learning Service; Middlesbrough Streetscene; Neighbourhood Policing Teams; and Safer Middlesbrough Partnership problem solving groups.

3.6Analysis of the baseline information shows that in relation to national floor targets the area is characterised by high unemployment and high levels of benefit claimants, poor health, high crime and lower than average educational achievement.

4.How the proposals have been developed

4.1SSCF-NE proposals have been developed primarily in accordance with the guidance issued by the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit. This has included establishing a process which has allowed effective engagement of and participation by local residents to enable their input to the shaping of the programme. It has also taken into account existing activity, particularly where this represents good practice. This has included work on community development and engagement in the area; the work of the Community Empowerment Network; expertise and good practice in neighbourhood management in Middlesbrough; and proper acknowledgement of programmes and activities already in place in East Middlesbrough. As already identified above in paragraph 3.4, East Middlesbrough is by no means a clean sheet but benefits already from a wide range of activities and interventions. The key issue has therefore been to add value and coherence to existing activities using the SSCF-NE initiative as a lever to deliver further change.

4.2Included in the activity and assets already in place in East Middlesbrough is the existing capacity amongst local residents to be influential in not only delivering the programme but in shaping the submission around their experience and grass roots knowledge of the area and its strengths and weaknesses. There is a long and proven track record in East Middlesbrough in both consulting and engaging the community in processes which affect their lives and neighbourhoods, from City Challenge to small local environmental projects. Middlesbrough Voluntary Development Agency, working with the patch based Community Development Team, used its existing networks to identify key residents and voluntary and community representatives who could not only contribute to the SSCF-NE process but were also respected and influential in their communities. Through their local networks these representatives were in a position to keep other residents informed of progress, vision and plans.

4.3Residents were drawn from each of the six neighbourhoods within East Middlesbrough through theestablished Community Council network. The expertise and knowledge that these residents brought to the formation of the submission is enhanced by their collectiveadditional roles as Chair of East Middlesbrough Cluster Group; East Cluster LSP Board representative; Chair of Berwick Hills Residents Association; East Cluster Economic Vitality Action Group representative; Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership representative; Middlesbrough Learning Partnership representative; and Environmental Action Group representative.

4.4Alongside residents representatives and voluntary sector representatives, key local and statutory agencies also came together, via a process of consultation, to form an initial steering group which identified a series of key issues and targets for SSCF-NE and provided the basis for this proposal. This initial, fairly loose structure, has now been formalised into an interim steering group which will oversee the introduction of the programme (see section 6b below). The steering group is chaired by a representative from the Safer Middlesbrough Partnership as the LSP lead group on SSCF.

4.5Involvement has therefore includedMiddlesbrough Council Streetscene, Education and Regeneration; Cleveland Police; Middlesbrough Partnership Manager; Community Empowerment Network; Pertemps; Middlesbrough Voluntary Development Agency; Erimus Housing and Middlesbrough PCT.

4.6The remit of the initial/interim steering group has been:

  • to develop the outline submission of the SSCF-NE and advise the Safer and Stronger Communities Action Group/Safer Middlesbrough Partnership on programme and project submission;
  • to act as a consultee on strategy and detailed proposals for implementation;
  • to oversee the development of an appropriate community engagementstrategy;
  • to be a reference group for the development of the SSCF-NE programme;
  • to use existing networks both community and organisational to facilitate input from wider communities.

Sub groups of the steering group have also formed to progress specific issues.

4.7Community engagement is an integral and ongoing requirement in the development and implementation of SSCF-NE. Activities to date which have supported the development of these proposals, have therefore included:

  • presentations to and information gathered by East Middlesbrough Cluster Group;
  • presentations and discussion at each of the six Community Councils in East Middlesbrough;
  • informal consultation by community workers and CEN;
  • partner organisations consultation through various networks;
  • the Planning for Real Pilot in Thorntree.

4.8The Tees Valley Joint Strategy Unit (JSU) prepared an analysis of the floor targets and appropriate proxy measures to help the steering group identify the greatest needs and challenges in the area. A comparison was undertaken to examine the distance needed to travel to bring East Middlesbrough in line with the town as a whole. The steering group noted that Middlesbrough as a whole lags behind the national average in most cases, reaffirming the acuteness of the challenges in East Middlesbrough. This analysis (Appendix 2) was recognised as a true reflection of the situation in East Middlesbrough by the residents, Community Network and agency representatives on the steering group. The group was clear from the outset that the SSCF-NE programme needed to be based on clearly identified needs and clear targets.

4.9The overarching aim is to improve the quality of life for people in East Middlesbrough and ensure service providers are more responsive to neighbourhood needs and improve their delivery.

4.10This will mean narrowing the gap across key priorities between East Middlesbrough and the rest of Middlesbrough (Appendix 2). Indicators identified link and reflect national floor targets, NRF and PSA targets for these priorities. A co-ordinated partnership approach will be required to achieve these reductions. For example, health has many determinants including employment, housing and environment.

4.11In recognition of the role crime and the fear of crime have in the community and its effect on the environment, East Middlesbrough wide reduction targets for all crimes have been set at inception for the first two years, (Appendix 3).

5.Priority Themes for Intervention:

5.1The analysis outlined above resulted in the steering group agreeing the following priority themes around which the SSCF-NE proposal is structured:

a)neighbourhood management;

b)community engagement;

c)safer, clearner, greener – including crime and anti-social behaviour;

d)young people including teenage conceptions;

e)worklessness benefits

f)health – particularly smoking, heart disease.

Sub groups drawn from the steering group were established to advise on delivery around each priority. Key issues and proposals for delivery are outlined in the following sections.

5aNeighbourhood Management

5.2Neighbourhood management is at the core of the requirements of SSCF-NE and of the programme which has been developed for East Middlesbrough. Proposals have built on existing good practice including Middlesbrough’s Neighbourhood Management Pilots, West Middlesbrough Neighbourhood Trust, and elsewhere, applied to the particular requirements of East Middlesbrough and of SSCF-NE.

5.3Essentially the whole of the programme is about neighbourhood management: the effective co-ordination of services and resources, in response to community engagement and articulation of needs, to deliver sustainable improvements in the quality of life of local residents. SSCF-NE provides a key opportunity to establish new approaches in East Middlesbrough, and a new strategic vision and leadership for the area, combined with agency interaction across the priority themes.

5.4The overall programme will be led by a small Neighbourhood Programme Team comprising a Neighbourhood Programme Manager, a supporting Neighbourhood Programme Officer, and administrative support.

5.5The Neighbourhood Programme Manager will have the overarching responsibility for ensuring a strategic and co-ordinated approach to service delivery in East Middlesbrough, and the development of a strategic plan for East Middlesbrough taking into account the priority themes and the more local Neighbourhood Forum plans (explained in more detail at 6a below). The Manager will be accountable to the steering group/board and through them will report to the SMP and the LSP.

5.6The Neighbourhood Programme Officer will focus on ensuring on-the-ground delivery and implementation of agreed joint agency actions; providing support to theme leads (explained in the following sections) in progress chasing; and ensuring themes are appropriately joined up.

5.7This delivery model has been identified based on the requirements of SSCF-NE, and the experience of delivering good practice in neighbourhood management, both in WMNT and in the four neighbourhood management pilots operating in Middlesbrough. The Programme Team will be expected to draw on existing experience and working methods in Middlesbrough and to work closely with other practitioners to ensure neighbourhood management in different areas of the town operates in a complementary way.

5.8The staff team will be employed by Middlesbrough Council with management support provided by the Regeneration Department. The appointment process will be through open recruitment involving key partners and resident representatives from the steering group.

5bCommunity Engagement:

5.2Community engagement is a cross-cutting requirement and key principle underpinning the delivery of SSCF-NE. The proposed structures to be developed to support the delivery of SSCF-NE are outlined in Section 6, and these include proposals for community participation/ownership of the programme. These will need to build on the active engagement of the community, one of the key themes of the programme.

5.3Baseline information collected shows there to be significant levels of community activity, much of it focussed around community centres (of which there are six in East Middlesbrough) Community Councils, tenant participation forumsand around voluntary activity, eg parent and toddler groups or residents taking part in activities such as craft classes, computer courses, etc.

5.4There are examples of good community engagement and capacity building from both Middlesbrough Council, voluntary sector community workers, and other agencies (for example identifying, training and supporting local residents in youth work in order to establish junior youth clubs). However, the breadth and scope of community engagement and community development has not realised its full potential.

5.5To support SSCF-NE objectives two further community workers will be employed as part of the East Middlesbrough Community Development Team to support and develop the Neighbourhood Forums (see 6a below), engage hard to reach residents, capacity build, devise local neighbourhood plans, work with elected members and empower residents to take part in decisions which have a direct effect on their communities. In addition, support specifically to develop the voluntary and community sector and the sector’s involvement in the SSCF-NE programme will also be put in place via Middlesbrough Voluntary Development Agency. These two programmes of support will be closely integrated to ensure they are complementary and mutually reinforcing. Resources will be in place to identify, train, support and develop residents to take an active and productive role in their communities, and to encourage more community activity and establish more community groups to address gaps which currently exist.

5.6The aim is to create an environment where individuals feel valued for their contribution and gain skills and knowledge that will enhance not only the development of their community, but their own personal development.

5.7A community engagement strategy will be developed which sets out all the issues, approaches and activities that will ensure local residents are properly involved in the development and delivery of the SSCF-NE programme. A series of community engagement activities are proposed to kick start the process. Some of these include:

  • a questionnaire has been designed to be included in the Totally TS3 directory of services and activities booklet funded by Pertemps and will go to every household in East Middlesbrough;
  • further work is being developed to canvass the views of young people;
  • a series of ‘surgery’ type drop in events will be held in accessible locations from April onwards;
  • MVDA and University of Teesside will further develop the TS3 website and engage the community via the internet. This may be particularly appropriate for the housebound and young people;
  • the findings of the latest Middlesbrough Neighbourhood Survey will give the opportunity to pull together reference groups from within neighbourhoods. These may be residents who never attend public meetings but have indicated an interest in a particular topic or in becoming more involved in their neighbourhood;
  • MVDA is undertaking a mapping exercise of existing voluntary community sector networks to be completed by April 2006. When complete further engagement work can be undertaken with these;
  • a series of themed event days will be held in East Middlesbrough around the key priorities of the submission. The first of these is around worklessness/benefits and will be held on April 12th hosted by Pertemps;
  • the establishment of six Neighbourhood Forums and development of area plans. The plans may be developed in a number of ways to be agreed by each Forum, for example using baseline data, door knocking surveys conducted by residents, reference groups, Planning for Real, agency data or studying examples of best practice elsewhere.

5cSafer, Cleaner Greener:

5.2To improve livability in a community there is a need to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour as well as the fear that this generates.

5.3At present a co-ordinated approach is being developed in East Middlesbrough through a multi-agency Problem Solving Group (PSG), which is managed by the Safer Middlesbrough Partnership. Members of the PSG includeErimus Housing, Middlesbrough Council enforcement officers, the police, youth outreach services, residents, street wardens and other similar partners. Multi-agency actions are generated which will provide long-term sustainable solutions to identified repeat problems. Interventions vary from engagement with young people and the provision of youth outreach services, improving design or lighting of an area, support for the victim which could include target hardening as well as appropriate use of enforcement. A combination of these and similar actions will be delivered throughout this programme to tackle community problems.

5.4Middlesbrough has an established team of neighbourhood wardens. Wardens currently operate in East Middlesbrough, however they are often deployed to other areas where residents are more proactive in reporting incidents. A review is currently underway in relation to deployments and responsibilities of the wardens. The steering group will in due course review the need for additional wardens.

5.5Statistical crime data has been reviewed in the main crime categories for each of the East Middlesbrough neighbourhoods for the years 2003/04 and 2004/05. By comparing this data East Middlesbrough can be compared to the rest of Middlesbrough and priority crime categories for the area identified. The relevant crime statistics are attached (at Appendix 4) which outlines the data per 1000 population, except for the dwelling house burglary category, which is per 1000 households and also outlines the actual numbers of crimes committed.