Welsh Assembly

• Communities First – the flagship programme –

Communities First is the Welsh Assembly Government's flagship programme to address issues of social exclusion.

This programme aims to develop communities by involving local people in new and innovative ways in order to address deep seated problems that have not responded to conventional interventions.

Therefore it;

• Is bottom up
• Involves developing a partnership in each area where at least 1/3^rd are local people.
• Takes the views of local people seriously – detailing their needs and aspirations in an action plan that is kept up to date
• Provides resources to employ a co-ordinator to facilitate the work of the partnership and access to other funds for community initiatives.

The programme is long term – 10-20 years and it welcomes innovative, creative, flexible approaches to solving the areas' problems.

The programme is not meant to stigmatise the communities but provide additional resources and allow different approaches that are flexible enough to work in the very varied CF communities in Powys.

The areas have been determined generally by the Welsh Index of Multiple deprivation – and the worst 100 wards in this index were given CF status. Ystradgynlais is one of these areas. The index uses data on unemployment and salary levels, ill health, benefit take-up, etc.

One top of these 100 areas the Assembly also allowed parts of wards to be considered for CF status. This was based on the realisation that there are pockets of deprivation in wards that otherwise do not meet the criteria of being deprived. The Oldford estate in Welshpool was granted CF status under this. There is also other areas included as 'Imaginative Proposals' included to investigate how the CF approach could work in these areas. There are 6 of these – five which are distinctive rural areas and the other linked to large employer closure. Bro Ddfyi comes into this category, being called 'Necklaced' rural communities. Over the last year there have been some new areas added to the CF programme, but none in Powys.

The future of Communities First. In the new One Wales manifesto by Welsh Assembly coalition government CF continues to be a key programme for the relief of deprivation in communities in Wales. The government is working with the CF areas on changes as to how the programme ensures it delivers better quality of life for its residents. Details on these changes are not clear at present but watch this space for updates.

• Delivering Beyond Boundaries

All of us aware of raft of strategy and policy from government but the key drivers are;

The Beecham Review - Beyond Boundaries sought to provide direction for the better and more sustainable service delivery. This has been welcomed by The Welsh Assembly. – This highlighted a 'gap' between policy and delivery (i.e. indicating an emphasis on organisations' objectives and culture rather than services for the citizen, ineffective partnerships and mixed performance)

The Welsh Assembly Government are actioning its recommendations in their document Making the Connections – Delivering Beyond Boundaries (providing a citizen voice above choice, joined up and citizen centred public services, with efficiency gains) and introduces Local Service Boards as a key to joined up service delivery across organisational boundaries

Full details found on; www.wales.gov.uk/makingtheconnections

The WAG aim for 2007/8 is that the Local Service Boards will be put in place to lead delivery of Community Strategy and agreed Strategic priorities across the sectors. These Boards will develop out of the existing Community Strategy partnerships and will facilitate joint working in service delivery. 

Watch this space for how these are getting going in Powys.

The National Strategic framework for Community Development in Wales is another important document for Communities First areas to grasp.

It lays out certain values and principles which should underpin community development work and essential components which must be taken on board if community development work is going to have a positive long term effect in our communities.

The key values & principles are;

• Social justice – working towards a fair society where everyone is treated equally
• Self determination – this means everyone being allowed to make their own decisions about how they live within the law
• Working & learning together – an understanding that we all listen to others, learn from them and build communities where we can all live in harmony.
• Sustainable communities – that is places which are not dependent on outside influences and finance in order to survive
• Participation – an understanding that everyone has a place in making decisions about their communities, and their views are taken seriously.
• Reflective practice – this means that we look back at what has happened and how we live so we can learn from our mistakes, see the best ways forward and be able to use these things to build a better future.

The Key Components are:

• Community led – we, the people of Powys, determine the way our communities develop. We do not rely on or expect others to do this for us or impose their ideas

• Includes all sections of the community – again everyone has opportunity, and are encouraged to get involved, no one is left out.
• Changes the balance of power – following on from the first point – as we determine how we want our communities to develop, the power to change things is given more into our hands
• Recognises the length of time needed to achieve change – an understanding that improvements and development do not happen overnight. We need to be patient and look at the small changes that will together result in the bigger changes we would like to see.
• A learning process – an acceptance that none of us knows everything – we need to learn new skills, new ways of talking and working with others and being prepared to listen to those with new ideas.
• A holistic process – community development involves all parts of our communities and one issue cannot be dealt with without looking at other related issues. It acknowledges that we live in a global village where regional, national and international affairs are interlinked and relevant to our rural communities.

 

• Wales Spatial Plan

The Wales spatial Plan is another Welsh Assembly initiative that splits up Wales into geographical regions and looks at issues of sustainability for beach of the regions. The document is called 'People, Places, Futures' and was adopted by the Welsh Assembly in 2004. It looks at the Key centres within each region, what and where services are based, how the communities within the region interact and the links to other regions and across the border into England. Powys is within the Central Wales region. The plan has 5 themes within it around sustainability. 

These are

• Building sustainable communities – looking at provision of schools and heath care, affordable housing, community life and the physical environment
• Promoting a sustainable economy – looking at employment and the skills of the population
• Valuing our Environment – looking at managing the resources of the countryside, reducing waste and adapting to climate change.
• Achieving Sustainable Accessibility – looking at transport and communication and provision of public services.
• Respecting distinctiveness – looking at the historical and cultural identity and diversity within Wales

The Vision of Central Wales is 'High-quality living and working in small-scale settlements set within a superb environment, providing dynamic models of rural sustainable development, moving all sectors to higher value added activities'. This plan identifies the main population settlements being along the Cardigan coast and East Powys. Issues of communication – both physical and electronic are highlighted, as is the potential for tourism (both coastal and inland), and cross border issues around service delivery.

A central Wales Spatial Plan Interim Statement has been made on 04/04/07. For more information visit the WAG website:-

http://new.wales.gov.uk/about/strategy/spatial/?lang=en