§ Mr. LoveTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the(a) total expenditure and (b) expenditure in capacity building was in each year in each New Deal for Communities area; what the (i) total planned expenditure and (ii) planned expenditure on capacity building will be until the end of each project; and if he will make a statement. [69187]
§ Mr. McNultyThe tables, which I shall place in the Library, illustrate the total expenditure and expenditure in capacity building in each year in each New Deal for Communities area so far and the total planned expenditure and planned expenditure on capacity building until the end of each project.
Good regeneration schemes are developed by genuine and effective partnerships. And good regeneration partnerships genuinely empower the local community, local business, schools, service providers and others in the district. Building and maintaining such partnerships, however, takes time and effort.
The Government have designed the New Deal for Communities (NDC) programme so as to enable local partnerships to build the capacity of all those involved, including local residents and statutory agencies.
There is no single definition of community capacity building, and so the figures in the tables should not be used as a basis for comparison between partnerships. Community capacity building can involve a wide range of differing activities—for example it may involve training community representatives, providing support workers to help the community develop skills, or providing access to administrative or office resources. Retaining the involvement and support of the community should be a priority throughout the life of any regeneration scheme.
Government guidance for NDC partnerships has made clear that we expect them to spend time and money in building the capacity of local people and agencies to participate. NDC partnerships were given considerably longer to prepare their Delivery Plans than in previous regeneration programmes. For the first time, the Government provided funding to help the partnership prepare its Delivery Plan, so that local people could be genuinely involved in the process of preparing the plan. The rules for NDC partnerships allow them to spend up to 10 per cent. of their funding on management and administration costs (that is double the amount allowed under previous programmes), to ensure that the partnership is properly resourced to deliver a programme with communities at its heart. We have asked each partnership to develop and implement a local learning plan, to equip all of the key players to play their full part in the process of neighbourhood renewal.