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WORKING NEIGHBOURHOODS FUND / LOCAL AREA AGREEMENT – GAP ANALYSIS

EXECUTIVE MEMBER FOR RESOURCES – NICKY WALKER

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF REGENERATION – TIM WHITE

Date: 6November 2008

PURPOSE OF THE REPORT

  1. To seek approval from the Executive Member for Resources on proposals to fund a small number of priority indicators, not directly related to Worklessness, from the Working Neighbourhoods Fund (WNF).
  1. Further, to seek approval on proposals to provide WNF funding for five projects that do not fit within any one indicator but which cross-cut the Local Area Agreement (LAA) indicators.

BACKGROUND AND EXTERNAL CONSULTATION

  1. On 22 July 2008, the Executive Member for Resources approved a report regarding WNF and supported the full programme delivery framework proposals.
  1. This report addresses two categories of projects, firstly a small number of non-worklessness national priority indicators, and secondly five other cross-cutting projects, all of which require additional support through WNF.

Priority Indicators

  1. 35 priority indicators from within the National Indicator Set (NIS) have been proposed for inclusion within the new LAA, together with nine local indicators. For each of these, recent performance data, direction of travel, national average, known resources and external/political factors have been considered in an assessment of need for additional funding.
  1. Appendix A provides details on each of the 35 national and nine local indicators, including:

a.direction of travel – positive, negative or static, over varying periods of two to four years;

b.an indication of the need for funding support;

c.if already covered within the WNF Worklessness Delivery Framework; and,

d.rationale for recommendations.

  1. Appendix A is further split into the following sections:

a.section 1 (blue) – indicators that may require funding support;

b.section 2 (orange)– indicators that will be funded via the Worklessness Delivery Framework and therefore do not require to be considered further;

c.section 3 (black) – indicators that are funded by or are the core business of other mainstream providers and therefore it is not recommended to offer further WNF funding; and,

d.section 4 (black) – local indicators which are not identified for support as they either fall within the Worklessness Delivery Framework or current resources are deemed sufficient, due to direction of travel.

  1. Extensive discussions have taken place with Directors in relation to the appropriateness of the indicators put forward and the sufficiency of resources and activities that could be delivered. Following these discussions, the non-worklessness indicators now recommended for WNF support are as follows:

a.18 – adult re-offending rates for those under probation;

b.33 – arson incidents;

c.195 – improved street and environmental cleanliness;

e.L2 – reduction in waiting time for major adaptations to accommodation;

f.32 – repeat incidents of domestic violence; and,

g.56 – obesity amongst children.

Suggested proposals

  1. Table One outlines the proposals put forward for WNF support to tackle the indicators highlighted in paragraph eight.

Table One: Funding Proposals

October 2008 –
31 March 2009 / 1 April 2009–
31 March 2010 / 1 April 2010 –
31 March 2011
NI18 Adult re-offending rates for those under probation

Establish an Integrated Offender Management scheme.

/ £40,000 / £200,000 / £200,000
NI 33 Arson incidents &
NI 195 Improved street and environmental cleanliness
Creation of a multi-disciplinary team to reduce arson through sustainable improvement in the cleanliness of back alleys etc. / £50,000 / £180,000 / £180,000
L2 Major adaptations

Employ two Progress Co-ordinators.

/ £20,076 / £41,358 / £42,598
NI 32 Repeat incidents of domestic violence
1. Continuation of the Sanctuary scheme, currently LPSA funded to 31/3/2009.
2. Employ MARAC Co-ordinator.
3.Employ Independent Domestic Violence Advisor to support MARAC. / Nil
£1,000
£17,500 / £76,559
£30,000
£18,000 / £76,559
£30,000
£18,000
NI 56 Obesity amongst children
Contribution to school meals service (healthy eating agenda) in WNF areas. / £111,000 / £50,795 / £51,318

Total required:

/ £239,076 / £596,712 / £598,475

Other projects

  1. In the Executive report of 22 July 2008, it was highlighted that projects in the interim programme which did not link directly to Worklessness, or any single priority indicator, but which were seen as priorities and would require a further commitment of WNF to continue, would need to be identified. The five projects below are therefore recommended to receive WNF for the period April 2009 to March 2011:

a.Families First – CFL/Social Care;

b.Families Project – Environment/Tees Valley Housing;

c.Community Cohesion – Regeneration;

d.Neighbourhood Management – Regeneration; and,

e.Independent Living for Older People (ILOP) – external, WRVS lead partner.

The above five projects have WNF funding already agreed to support in full, until 31 March 2009.

  1. Table Two outlines the proposals put forward for WNF to support the projects highlighted in paragraph 10. It should be noted that any offer of funding to the ILOP project is subject to other funding bids, which if successful would reduce or negate the need for WNF funding in the future.

Table Two: Summary of funding requirements 2009/11 for non worklessness projects

2008/09 allocation
[already approved] / Recommended 2009/10 allocation / Recommended 2010/11 allocation (incl. 2.5% increase)

Families First

/ 237,000 / 243,000
[incl. 2.5% increase] / 249,000
Families project / 174,604 / 154,000 / 158,000
Community Cohesion / 37,000 / 30,000 / 30,750

Neighbourhood Management [includes STEM requirement in 2010/11 only of £70k]

/ 344,362 / 251,000 / 327,500
ILOP / 115,000 / 95,000 / 97,500

Total required:

/ 907,966 / 773,000 / 862,750

OPTION APPRAISAL/RISK ASSESSMENT

  1. The gap analysis exercise was undertaken to identify areas of weakness which may require further resources to achieve targets, in relation to the identified 35 priority indicators and local indicators included in the new LAA.
  1. The WNF allocation for 2008/09 has already been committed to the continuation of projects in the interim programme (£3.5m) and to the development of a Worklessness Delivery Framework (£3.1m). Further commitments to the Worklessness Delivery Framework have also been made for the following two years (2009/11). This has left approximately £1.28m WNF resources unallocated for 2008/09, with a further £423k in 2009/10 and £668k 2010/11. See Table Three.
  1. The percentages of WNF allocated to directly support the worklessness agenda are currently:
  1. 2008/09 - 54%;
  2. 2009/10 - 73%;
  3. 2010/11 - 70%; and,
  4. average between 2008 & 2011 – 66%.
  1. For this remaining resource there are a number of potential demands, as follows:
  1. further potential to commit additional resources to the Worklessness agenda (a review should take place early in 2009 to address the current programmes effectiveness and allocated resources);
  2. any further identified priority indicators; and,
  3. the ability to commit funds to the change programme (see paragraphs 17 & 18).

FINANCIAL, LEGAL AND WARD IMPLICATIONS

  1. Table Three details the:

a.currently unallocated WNF (as at 1 October 2008);

b.WNF resource required to fully support proposals in Table One - new NIs;

c.WNF resource required to fully support proposals in Table Two - other projects; and,

d.remaining unallocated WNF, if all proposals in Tables One and Two were fully supported.

Table Three: Unallocated WNF Resources 2008/11

2008/09 / 2009/10 / 2010/11

Current unallocated WNF resource

/ £1.52m / £1.8m / £2.13m
Proposals in Table One
[to support NI indicators] / £240k / £597k / £598k
Proposals in Table Two
[five other projects] / n/a
(funding already approved to 31/3/09) / £773k / £863k

Total unallocated WNF resource

if all proposals supported

/ £1.28m / £423k / £668k

Change programme

  1. Following discussions with the Director of Resources it is proposed that any unallocated or unspent WNF resource in 2008/09, up to 10% (£744k) of the overall annual allocation of £7.44m, be carried forward to 2009/10 for use within the 2009/10 WNF programme. Any remaining resources over 10% would be allocated to the Change Programme for 2009/10.
  1. As Table Three indicates, the maximum amount of unallocated WNF in 2008/09 is currently £1.28m. If the position were to remain as is, £744k would therefore be carried forward and added to the 2009/10 allocation of £8.53m (giving a revised allocation of £9.28m), which would leave approx. £535k for inclusion in the Change Programme.

RECOMMENDATIONS

  1. It is recommended that the Executive Member for Resources approves:

a. the six priority indicators highlighted in blue in Appendix A, and at paragraph eight;

  1. supports the funding proposals in Table One;
  2. supports the recommendations to fund the five other projects, as detailed in paragraph 10 and Table Two; and,
  1. agrees the carry forward proposition detailed in paragraphs 17 and 18.

BACKGROUND PAPERS

20.The following background papers were used in the preparation of this report:

a.The Working Neighbourhoods Fund – Department for Communities and Local Government, Department for Work and Pensions, November 2007; and,

b.Executive reports of:

i.9 April 2008 – Local Area Agreement / Neighbourhood Renewal Fund – Project Prioritisation; and,

ii.22 July 2008 – WNF Delivery Framework.

AUTHOR: Diane Nielsen

TEL NO: 729051

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Address:

Website:

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