Area and Neighbourhood Working

 

 

Area and Neighbourhood Working

 

We work with residents to shape their own areas and neighbourhoods by developing local solutions for the things that matter most to them. To help plan how we are going to reach our targets, we have developed 6 Community Area Plans, one for each of our Community Area Forums. These plans explain what we are doing in each of our areas to narrow the gap between our best and worst neighbourhoods.

We have identified 71 natural self selecting neighbourhoods and are currently working intensively in 14 of these, which are targeted for neighbourhood working support. Examples of neighbourhood working include neighbourhood partnerships, neighbourhood management initiatives, the development of neighbourhood action plans and neighbourhood charters.

Our approach to area and neighbourhood working is guided by the 10 principles of our Area and Neighbourhood Working Strategy:

 1.              Working with residents – residents are the local experts who will design and influence the services they receive

 
2.              Working with Community Champions – the important role of the elected Councillor and the power of local democracy
 
3.              Working in partnership – through the Local Strategic Partnership, Community Area Forum and Neighbourhood Partnership
 
4.              Making a difference – Being solution focused and working with communities to performance manage and evaluate the services we deliver
 
5.              Creating self-sufficient and sustainable communities – breaking the cycle of dependency and co-producing outcomes with residents
 
6.              Tackling inequality and improving cohesion – being inclusive and targeting the whole community
 
7.              Understanding the evidence – working with residents to understand the results of consultation as well as information analysis
 
8.              Being flexible – to meet changing needs and circumstances, recognising the diversity of our communities
 
9.              Maximising Value for Money – balancing demand and ensuring efficiency
 
10.           Building capacity – community development and building capacity of our stakeholders