Study visit season is upon us

Our very successful study visits are back! We’ll be kick-starting the season with a visit to Together NMP in Tranmere, Wirral who have been busy ensuring the life of the NM team extends beyond its life as a CLG pathfinder. One of the few Pathfinders to be based within a housing association, the team is going to be continued with help from the local community development trust. In return the NMP will be helping them to meet their community engagement aims.

The pathfinders are not the only ones thinking of succession though. The end of Neighbourhood Element and Neighbourhood Renewal Funding and the ambiguity surrounding Working Neighbourhoods makes sustainability a hot topic for a lot of NM teams. The recession and the prospect of an incoming Conservative government adds to the uncertainty.

We already know that councils are being driven to develop localised approaches to service delivery to meet the targets set out in the LAAs and CAAs. However most seem to be forgoing the traditional NM model - which covers populations between 5,000 and 15,000 – in favour of ones that cover a larger geographical area.

The question for everyone working in localities is whether a NM approach can still be as successful at engaging and empowering local people when applied to large areas.