TOP DOWN MEETS BOTTOM UP IN SUNDERLAND

1
TOP DOWN MEETS BOTTOM UP IN SUNDERLAND!

• Phil Spooner
• Head of Regeneration and Housing
• Sunderland City Council

2
STRUCTURE

• Background City, structures, experience
• The Challenge achieving an effective
• balance between top down and bottom up
• Sunderlands approach and experience
• Stocktake and next steps

3
BACKGROUND THE CITY

• 300,000 people in 3 main settlement types and
  over 150 neighbourhoods
• broad, multi-faceted deprivation
• focus of many special regeneration programmes but
  
• needed to sharpen up our act to attract funds in
  a competitive situation

4
BACKGROUND STRUCTURES

• Strong record of partnership
• Go-ahead City Council with traditional values
• Excellent rating in comprehensive Performance
  Assessment
• Increasingly well organised and networked
  voluntary/community sector
• Weak private sector
• Regeneration and Central Policy formed core of
  Chief Executives Department from mid 1990s

5
BACKGROUND EXPERIENCE

• Regeneration programmes, their development,
  research, consultation, practical resident
  involvement
• City Strategy produced since 1997
• Public Service Agreement pathfinder
• Best Value Pilot Authority 1998
• Neighbourhood Renewal Fund, floor targets and the
  need to achieve clearer accountability and
  measurability
• Connecting and reconciling the needs, wants,
  aspirations of all main interests

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THE CHALLENGE
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DOWNWARDS

• Government, regional, City-level policies
• Government floor targets
• City Partnership priorities and imperatives
• Consistency of standards (completeness and
  quality) and approach wherever appropriate

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UPWARDS

• Local research findings, issues, opportunities,
  priorities
• Outcomes of focus groups and other consultation
  methods
• Community Visioning Exercise
• Community Spirit / MORI
• Implementation practice, information, views,
  experience

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WHERE TOP DOWN MEETS BOTTOM UP

• A continuously evolving approach featuring
• Area Regeneration Frameworks
• issues
• opportunities
• priorities
• Area Regeneration Officers
• Area Committees and Council restructuring
• Area Partnerships
• Area Budgets
• Appraisals

10
Local Strategic Partnership Board Community
Strategy
Area Regeneration Framework
Themed Partnerships
Area Partnerships / Committees
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OR PUT ANOTHER WAY

• Policies

• Floor Targets

• Standards/consistencies

• AREA REGENERATION FRAMEWORKS

• Common format

• Outcome focus

• Holistic approach

• Performance management tool

• Local priorities

• Research

• Consultation outcomes

• Practice experience

• Customer feedback

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PRACTICE INFLUENCING POLICY

• Primary care service delivery
• Community Police Task Forces
• Local labour in construction
• Schools- plus developments
• Youth Parliament
• Diversity respected and valued
• Fundamental changes in process and approach to
  local regeneration
• Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy and Community
  Strategy

13
Stocktake

• We can achieve a productive balance between top
  down and bottom up
• The process is not without its tensions
• The process has been evolutionary
• Results have been promising but there is much
  more to do
• Its a team game we need Government,
  strategists, policy officers, practitioners and
  the community working together towards common
  goals
• The future will be exciting and challenging
  will Government play its part?

14
NEXT STEPS

• Merge Community Strategy and Neighbourhood
  Renewal Strategy
• Develop Area Frameworks scope and content
• Review how far all interests are plugged in
  minority ethnic communities, young, elderly
  private sector
• Refine and develop Area Partnerships
• Exploit e-technology to develop our approach