Local Work
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Raising aspirations and tackling deprivation in King's Lynn: Lessons from 'Learning Catalysts'
In this latest edition of Local Work, Sarah Glenn, Economic Development Projects Officer with the Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk, describes the development of an approach to understand and raise aspirations through the Learning Catalysts project which began in January 2006.
Recovering from recession: a view from the Northwest
In this latest edition of Local Work, John Corish, Economic Development Officer for 4NW (the Regional Leaders Board for the Northwest of England), focuses on responses to the recent recession and that of the early 1990s, offering a personal view of the lessons for the Northwest of England to ensure we enable a sustainable economic recovery this time around.
Resilient Retail?
Two influential themes run through the general media coverage and more specialist analysis of the economic downturn in Britain. The first theme focuses on the uneven impact of a downturn; that the recession is having very different repercussions in different parts of the country. The second theme relates to town centres; that economic recession is generating specific problems for town and city centres across the country.
Fairtrade towns: The local response to a global issue
By Linsey Humphries - The UK has often been referred to as a ‘leader’ of the Fairtrade Movement due to the opportunities available for consumers to choose Fairtrade products, with over 4,500 Fairtrade certified products currently being available. The growing use of Fairtrade has been boosted by the introduction and expansion of the Fairtrade Towns Movement, which is based upon boroughs, zones, villages, towns, counties, cities and islands meeting set goals that work to increase levels of understanding and sales of Fairtrade products as a means of highlighting the commitment of a community to the Fair Trade Movement.
Creating greater innovation in public services: challenges and opportunities
The impacts of the recession and global financial crisis have been unprecedented. As a result public spending will be cut aggressively in the coming years, no matter which party is in government, with less resource likely at a time when more is needed to be achieved. How this translates to local government remains to be seen, however it is seems safe to assume that conditions for economic development and regeneration practitioners are likely to become more challenging. The need, therefore, to create new innovative methods and processes will become ever more imperative and to achieve this, a shift in culture of many existing practices will be needed.
Manchester Independent Economic Review: lessons for informing better policy decision making
By Rupert Greenhalgh, Senior Consultant, CLES, and Adrian Nolan, Senior Research Consultant, CLES. This latest edition of Local Work examines and critiques the findings and recommendations of the MIER.
Community Land Trusts
By Jessica Smith, Policy Researcher, CLES. Community Land Trusts (CLTs) bring together the principle of protecting land for community benefit with the more recently emerging agenda of asset transfer, and are essentially a mechanism for the democratic ownership of land or buildings by local communities. CLTs offer an innovative model for tackling many of the social agendas that affect both rural and urban communities; from helping to tackle housing shortages, to promoting active citizenship and community empowerment.
Community Health Champions: One of the keys to unlocking the health inequalities challenge?
By Roz Davies, Programme Director, Altogether Better Programme, NHS Yorkshire and The Humber - This Local Work highlights a practical approach to reducing health inequalities through community empowerment where national, regional and local partners are working together to develop an approach to community empowerment in health and well-being which is systematic and integrated into the core business of reducing health inequalities.
The future role of local government in strengthening local economies
By Tom Shakespeare, Research Fellow at Localis, and Jessica Smith, Policy Researcher at CLES. On 4th February 2009, CLES and Localis hosted a joint event with the aim of discussing what the role of local authorities and their partners should be in driving local economies and achieving resilient local areas and economies. This paper outlines the key issues raised during the debate.
Strengthening Local Enterprise
By Paul Davies, the Chair of the Executive Board of Alliance for Enterprise, the LEGI programme for Bolsover, Ashfield and Mansfield Districts - February 2009 In 2001 a body of research was carried out by the Civic Trust and New Economics Foundation (nef) into the success factors in local economic regeneration. It examined regeneration programmes within the UK and looked at successful models from around the world. Its conclusions began an exciting programme of work which had the potential to reshape local economic growth. The programmes of locally driven enterprise growth that have emerged have established best practice models capable of replication on a wide scale.
Robust evidence for effective policy
By Paul McKenna, Senior Consultant, Micaela Mazzei, Consultant (CLES), January 2009 - The purpose of this Local Work is to use CLES’ experience of working with teenage pregnancy partnerships to get the most out of the available data, to show how local partnerships can develop evidence more effectively.
Seeing Places, Shaping Places: the small area mapping revolution
By Steve Griffiths, freelance researcher and consultant in the fields of social and health policy, December 2008 - This Local Work argues that the implementation of public policy in many areas can benefit significantly from some kind of small area perspective, from economic development and reduction in health inequalities to skills development and worklessness interventions.
Health Impact Assessment: Its role in regeneration
By Arvin Prashar, freelance HIA and evaluation consultant, October 2008 - How can the health of people living in deprived communities be influenced by programmes, policies, or projects, which actively seek to regenerate those communities? How can such activities be amended so that people affected can experience more positive health impacts, and fewer negative health impacts? This Local Work seeks to explain the valuable role that HIA, as a methodology, can play in promoting the health benefits of regeneration activities.
Matching rhetoric with reality: the challenge for Third Sector involvement in local governance
By Matthew Jackson, Senior Policy Researcher, Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES), September 2008 - Reading any recent Government publication around the issue of local government modernisation; be it the Comprehensive Spending Review, guidance on Local Area Agreements or the new National Indicator Set; a clear rhetoric emerges as to the role of the Third Sector in local partnership, local governance and ultimately local service delivery. In reality, however, this rhetoric is far from certain, with diversity in the size, shape and ethos of Third Sector organisations leading to an often misunderstood and uncomfortable relationship between the sector and local governance mechanisms.
What difference can co-operatives make to local service delivery?
By Mary Rayner, Policy & Research Officer, Co-operatives UK, July 2008 - The Government is now recognising the importance of empowerment and the ability of co-operatives to provide a means of empowering people in a local community. Furthermore, Local Authorities have recently stated their commitment to the third sector, which includes co-operatives. 61 top tier Local Authorities have made National Indicator 7 – creating an environment for a thriving third sector – a top priority for how they will be assessed in the next three years. With this in mind, this Local Work explores in more detail the important contribution that co-operatives can and do make to local services.
Making local food work
By Jennifer Heim and Mike Perry, The Plunkett Foundation, June 2008 - Making Local Food Work is about promoting and developing sustainable community and social enterprises to bring together food producers and consumers.
Eastern European migrant workers and the Scottish tourism industry: The economic impact
By Rebecca Jack, April 2008 - This Local Work investigates the social and cultural impacts of migration, focusing particularly on the extent to which Eastern European migrant workers have a positive impact on the Scottish tourism industry.
'Good work' in the knowledge economy: Evidence from two studies
By Becky Fauth, The Work Foundation, February 2008 - This Local Work explores what is meant by the 'knowledge economy' as well as what it looks like in reality. In particular it explores in more detail what the knowledge economy means for workers. It offers a new approach, developed by the Work Foundation, to defining knowledge workers and examines job quality and work-related outcomes, in particular looking at the health of knowledge workers.
The Links Between Transport Investment and Economic Growth
By Adam Marshall and Chris Webber, Centre for Cities, January 2008 - At a time when financial resources are limited, how can our cities and regions prioritise transport needs and make intelligent investments that boost their economic competitiveness? Recent research using case studies from the Leeds City Region, has shown the scale of the hidden¡n economic benefits known as agglomeration benefits that transport schemes can deliver in Britains major cities.
A new wave of place renaissance: shaping a fairer England
By Neil McInroy, CLES, December 2007 - English cities have enjoyed a renaissance. New urban spaces, revitalised commercial cores, improved transport and new city centre lifestyles have created a vibrancy and energy to many towns and cities. However, this renaissance is incomplete and patchy. Increasingly England is characterised by differences at the regional, local and neighbourhood level.
Stockport black and minority ethnic childrens' project
By Nick Beddow, Stockport MBC, October 2007 - This is the story of how black and minority ethnic (BME) communities in Stockport have worked together, with community development support, to show the human meaning of some grand ideas - community cohesion and social inclusion. Since 2004, Stockport's B&ME communities have been using Childrens Fund money to support their childrens' activities, leading to the award of Learning Exemplar status at the RENEW Northwest Exemplar event in November 2006.
Culture Led Regeneration & Local Art Communities
Phil Northall, Policy Researcher, CLES, October 2007 - Liverpool will be the first city in the UK to experience this newly refocused ECOC programme, when it hosts the event in 2008. As preparations for the event reach boiling point (the finalised programme is due for discussion with the City Council next month), this Local Work intends to assess the role of culture, and in particular large-scale events such as Liverpool 2008, in cities. The primary concern in this paper is the impact that such events have on local arts and culture communities, the one group who would be expected to benefit the most from a year-long event focusing on the promotion of local culture.
New Era, New Approaches: Creative and Collaborative Economic Development
By Matthew Jackson, Senior Policy Researcher, CLES, September 2007 - The way in which economic development, both strategy and interventions, are developed governed and delivered in the UK is changing. We are beginning to move away from the more traditional, centrally led approaches to economic development such as inward investment, civic boosterism, and support for the manufacturing and service industries, towards more creative, localised, flexible and collaborative approaches whereby local authorities and groups of local authorities are able to shape economic development by responding specifically to the global and local drivers that influence their local economies. With this is mind the purpose of this Local Work is to identify and provide commentary on creative and collaborative approaches to economic development.
Evaluation and Local Area Regeneration
By Ray Holden, June 2007 - This Local Work: Voice is concerned with evaluation and how to improve the way in which findings inform existing activities, future plans, the activities of partner organisations and of course wider policy. As a not for profit think tank and consultancy, CLES is very much concerned with evaluation, improving interventions so that their effect is maximised and they focus on improving the lives of the most deprived and the sharing of best practice as well as ensuring that evaluations inform national policy and strategy with experience gained from activity on the ground. In addition, CLES has considerable experience of providing policy and project evaluations and continually looks to make the connections between activity on the ground and local, national and regional policy.
Supporting foreign nationals in UK prisons, community cohesion and regeneration: the links
By Sarah Macleod, CLES consulting, April 2007 - Cohesive communities, where people feel safe, have a sense of belonging, value diversity, and have a wide range of life choices and opportunities, are essential to the development of truly sustainable communities and as such to regeneration. However, segregation and a lack of cohesion can act as barriers to this. In this Local Work: Findings we will look at how the issue of foreign national in UK prisons relates to the processes of regeneration and neighbourhood renewal.
Well-being and regeneration
By Nicola Steuer, Centre for Well-being, new economics foundation, March 2007 - This Local Work: Voice introduces some of the findings from the field of well-being (and happiness) research and suggests ‘well-being’ adds valuable insights for how we both deliver regeneration and asses its impacts in the UK. It is recognised that ‘well-being’ can be a difficult term given its use in a whole range of contexts but it is used here to complement existing notions of quality of life within the regeneration sector and to offer new insights into people’s experience of their quality of life.
Wherever I go, there I am. But where am I?
By Patrick Hanfling, Manchester City Council, February 2007 - This Local Work is about the connection between people and place and what happens there. Everyone experiences and interprets a place in different ways as individuals and groups of individuals. A person’s cultural background, interests, lifestyles and personal experience all influence sense of place, as does the city’s natural and built environment. It is the combination of the physical environment and personal experiences that forms Sense of Place.
The Regeneration Skills Agenda
By Tony Baldwinson, RENEW Northwest, December 2006 - This Local Work Voice looks at how the regeneration sector is responding to the Egan Review of skills. A key finding by the Egan Skills Reviewii in 2004 was that while professionals have very good 'hard skills' within our particular competence, it is our 'soft skills' which need to be developed further - communicating better with communities, working better as a team, managing successful projects, coping with unexpected barriers and poor behaviours and more besides.
Making the Links: Corporate Social Responsibility and Neighbourhood Renewal
By Stuart MacDonald, CLES and Louise Hawson, LH Consulting, September 2006 - This Local Work looks at how - and why - involvement in local regeneration fits into businesses' Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategies, and at the role business can play in helping to deliver neighbourhood renewal. It draws on some of the experiences of CLES Consulting, looking at the practicalities of how partnerships between the public and private sector can work, and examining some of the challenges of weaving together CSR and neighbourhood renewal.
Challenges for delivery: the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector
By Matthew Jackson, Policy Researcher, CLES, August 2006 - The VCS and the social enterprise sector have long been seen as separate entities. With Government policy for the VCS residing in the Home Office, and now the DCLG, and policy for Social Enterprise being located in the DTI, there has been little opportunity for joined up strategy.
Welfare Reform: Supporting a Return to Work
By Victoria Bradford, CLES, August 2006 - Following the recent publication of the draft Welfare Reform Bill and work undertaken by CLES Consulting this Local Work Case Study looks at employment and skills-based interventions, designed and implemented by Employment Regeneration Partnership and Halton People into Jobs.
What now for Regeneration in Rural Areas
By Sarah Jack - Consultant, Cles Consulting, April 2006 - In this Local Work: Findings, we look at the current position in relation to funding for regeneration in rural Britain and the steps the current government is taking to address some of the complex challenges facing rural economies.
Knowledge Economies and Big Science: A Challenge for Governance
By Hilary Burrage, Freelance Consultant and Lay Member of Science Advisory Council, DEFRA, February 2006 - The term "knowledge economy" is used to describe an information-driven society, in which Big science and technology are the main drivers, and economic success is based upon the effective use of knowledge and skills.
Lasting Regeneration - The Sustainability of East Oxford Action
By Matthew Jackson, Policy Researcher, CLES with Zoe Brooks, East Oxford Action, January 2006 - East Oxford Action is unusual in that it is an independent organisation and social enterprise, formed out of an SRB partnership. Becoming an independent organisation has allowed East Oxford Action to continue many of the processes and projects that were devised as part of the five year SRB scheme, in the East Oxford area as well as continue to contribute to sustainable regeneration activity both within the area and in the wider South East.
Supporting BME Social Enterprises
By Micaela Mazzei and Victoria Bradford, CLES, December 2005 - This Local Work: Findings seeks to summarise the findings of research carried out by CLES Consulting and Equal Access Consultancy, which sought to identify the existing opportunities, barriers and capacity of BME Social enterprises (BME SEs) or similarly structured organisations and to determine how they can best be supported in the future; as well looking at other research that has recently been completed on and around the subject of social enterprise and BME tailored support.
Democratic Innovations: Engaging Citizens in Political Decision-Making
By Dr Graham Smith, November 2005 - At the rhetorical level at least there is growing political support for increasing citizen engagement. We have all become familiar with policy documents that are full of references to 'active citizenship', 'partnership', 'capacity building' and other fine words that signify a commitment to citizen participation in decision making.
Food for thought
By Dr Martin Caraher, Reader in Food and Health Policy, City University, August 2005 - This Local Work: Voice will focus on food retailing, supply chains and the planning system, and will argue that the current situation is the result of a lack of a coherent policy surrounding food retail, the 'free market' and a failure, inherent within this philosophy, to constrain planning.
Local Positive Change: Advice services and regeneration
By Simon Bottery, Director of Communications, Citizens Advice, May 2005 - Advice services have often struggled to define the contribution that they make to the economic and social welfare of communities. This has sometimes been because advice is such a broad concept that generalisation has proved a problem but more often because it has been difficult to show the outcomes of advice work.
Tackling Social Exclusion through Community Transport
By Daniel Sheperd, Community Transport Association, February 2005 - The significance of the community transport sector extends beyond transport service provision. In this issue, Local Work seeks to explore the community transport sector. Firstly, we will explore what the community transport sector is; secondly, how community transport can contribute to tackling social exclusion through improving transport provision; and finally, how it can deliver a sustainable future for the sector.
Modernising public sector provision: Procurement & the third sector
By Jerry Spencer & Sarah Brennan, Liverpool Plus, January 2005.
Working with complexity
By Neil McInroy, Director & Stuart MacDonald, Policy and Information Researcher Centre for Local Economic Strategies, September 2004.
What about the workers? Front line regeneration workers and their ethical dilemmas
Professor Marjorie Mayo, Head of Professional and Community Education and Development, Goldsmiths College, University of London, September 2004.
Young people and regeneration: Opportunities for Innovation
By John Diamond, Research Associate, Centre for Local Policy Studies, June 2004.
Understanding Social Enterprise
By Ben McCall, Allison Ogden-Newton, John Pearce, May 2004.
Disability and the regeneration agenda – Making the links
By Claire Edwards, April 2004.
Hull community stadium – A focal point for civic pride
By Debbie Gray, March 2004.
Regenerating communities: The role of extended schools
By Claire Millett, December 2003.
Reviving local food
By Dr Lucy Nichol, August 2003.
Local democracy and directly elected mayors
Peter Latham from the Labour Campaign for Open Local Government and Anna Randle of the New Local Government Network, July 2003.
The management of regeneration: processes and routes to effective delivery
By Alan Southern, April 2003.
Turning economic deserts into enterprising communities
By Bernie Ward and Justin Sacks, March 2003.
The Community and Environmental Employment Programme
By Angie Libman, February 2003.
Transport & regeneration – A bigger role for the humble bus?
By Bill Tyson OBE and Richard Elliott, January 2003.
English devolution and regional development – Your region, your choice
By Paul Benneworth and Gordon Dabinett, November 2002.
Living in the countryside – Rural disadvantage and rural regeneration
Written by Mandy Gloyer, September 2002
What’s the Big Issue? Homelessness and health in the South West
Written by Mary Shaw, August 2002.
Urban regeneration: Success or failure?
Written by Christopher Mawdsley with Irmani Darlington, July 2002.
The land use planning system: A creative tool in regeneration?
Written by Greg Lloyd, April 2002
Rethinking ‘work’ – A look towards a ‘broad work’ concept
Written by Max Nathan and Andy Westwood, March 2002
The sustainable branch line: how rail can aid regeneration
Written by Paul Salveson, TR&IN, February 2002
The renewal of urban neighbourhoods
Written by Dr Dick Atkinson, January 2002
Sustainability Appraisal: all at SEA?
Written by Tony Jackson, Senior Lecturer, Geddes Centre for Planning Research School of Town and Regional Planning, University of Dundee, December 2001
Towards an upturn for downtown
Written by Caroline Bourne and Julie Witham, Co-directors, Morpheus Regeneration, October 2001.
Work …can only get better?
Written by John Knell, Max Nathan and Richard Reeves Futures, The Industrial Society, September 2001.
What we learnt at school
By Carl Wiper, Senior Information Officer, CLES, August 2001.
Creating prosperity in all the English regions
Written by Bob Kerslake, Chief Executive of Sheffield City Council, July 2001
Health & Social Exclusion
Written by Dr Mary Shaw, Senior Research Fellow, School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, June 2001.
Regeneration 2001
Report by Carl Wiper, Senior Information Officer at CLES, May 2001.
A New Regeneration Agenda
By Neil McInroy who is a consultant with CLES Consulting and an associate researcher at the School of Planning, Oxford Brookes University, April 2001.
Two Cheers for the Urban White Paper
By Alan Harding, Simon Marvin and Stuart Wilks-Heeg, of the SURF Centre at the University of Salford, March 2001
Deprivation Indicators
By Myfanwy Lloyd and Michael Noble, Social Disadvantage Research Group, Department of Social Policy and Social Work, Oxford University, January 2001.
CLES Commendations 2010
Three projects received commendations at this year's CLES Summit - Grow (Hull); The Star Inn (Salford) and East Lindsey Active (Lincolnshire).
Full details
Local Economic Assessment Network
CLES has launched its national Local Economic Assessment Network.
For more information click here.
Wellbeing Evaluation
Norwich LEGI
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HCA Placemaking Practice Review Panel
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