Pacts that will help put back pride (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Pacts that will help put back pride

7:02am Monday 17th July 2006 in

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Residents could soon be making pacts with Bradford Council to take care of their communities under a neighbourhood agreement scheme the government is promoting. ASIAN EYE reports.

Do you know exactly what role Bradford Council plays in your neighbourhood?

The bins are emptied once a week, grass verges are cut and street lighting is maintained - but what else does the Council do? And what role as communities can you play in taking care of your neighbourhood?

Under new neighbourhood agreements being introduced across the country, residents, businesses and community groups enter into a formal pact with local service providers to share responsibility for the upkeep of their living environment.

The government is ploughing £4 million into new neighbourhood management schemes in five areas of Bradford, and the Council is considering piloting neighbourhood agreements within these areas.

The agreement idea was highlighted recently by Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, who told the 21st Century Public Services: Putting People First conference that they empowered communities.

He said it was important to "put local people in the driving seat, not just by holding service providers accountable, but taking power themselves." He highlighted the need for neighbourhood managers "acting as advocates and brokers for local people."

So what exactly are neighbourhood agreements - and does Bradford have any? According to Mr Brown's speech, there are 60 of them across Bradford.

But Janice Thornton, head of Bradford Council's Neighbourhood Support Service, says that while there are approximately 60 neighbourhood action plans districtwide - identifying services that need to improve or change in a community and looking at the aspirations of the community - there aren't yet any neighbourhood agreements.

"But Bradford district is ideally prepared to respond to this as we already work closely with communities through neighbourhood forums, urban villages, community campaigns like Go Girlington!, parish and town councils and more recently neighbourhood management schemes," she says.

"Neighbourhood agreements are locally-negotiated agreements between a service provider like the Council and local communities. They provide clarity, striking a balance between the Council being clear about its services and responsibilities and the community setting out its own responsibilities. There has to be that mutual commitment if communities want their living environment and opportunities for discussion to improve.

"Ten years ago we did some work in Frizinghall with a group, mostly mums, concerned about areas in their neighbourhood. We distributed leaflets to every household, laying out the Council's responsibility to do things like empty bins and clean streets. On the other side of the leaflet was a pledge for the community to agree to put bins out, use litter bins provided and keep gardens tidy.

"A neighbourhood agreement would make this kind of relationship more formal so everyone knows the different areas of responsibility. We've done the groundwork and are ready to start negotiations for neighbourhood agreements. We're using neighbourhood forums to discuss the issue and are happy to negotiate with any community where people are ready to take part. There has to be support on both sides for this to work."

Bradford's neighbourhood support service runs more than 250 neighbourhood forums a year in 135 venues districtwide.

"They provide communities with opportunity for discussion," says Ms Thornton. "Over the past year 14,777 people have attended forums and more than 20,000 have taken part in public consultation. People are keen to take part, they come voluntarily to meetings to talk to Council representatives."

One community project Bradford's neighbourhood support service team has worked with is Go Girlington! - the biggest co-ordinated approach to cleaning up an area that Bradford Council has ever undertaken.

Last July's campaign, which won a Community Harmony Award, involved a community education programme, followed by a massive clean-up weekend, then enforcement action against anyone continuing to have rubbish cluttering their property.

Council staff publicised the clean-up, working with faith organisations, schools, businesses, community groups, residents and landowners and distributed information packs about Council waste services to more than 3,000 homes.

Fast food businesses signed a code of practice committing them to remove litter from the front of their premises and urge customers not to drop any. Businesses were advised on legal responsibilities for waste management and disposal and warned that failure to comply could result in enforcement action and fines.

The clean-up weekend broke Council records for tonnage of rubbish cleared.

Ms Thornton said neighbourhood agreements could be piloted in neighbourhood management areas being set up in Little Horton, Holme Wood, Allerton, Windhill and the Worth Valley area of Keighley.

"We have a £4.7 million four-year commitment from the government to deliver neighbourhood management within Bradford district," she says. "Each area will tackle their particular problems in ways that suit their community. We're in the process of appointing neighbourhood managers."

The management schemes are co-ordinated under Neighbourhood Element, a government initiative aimed at improving the quality of life of people living in a selection of the three per cent of the country's most disadvantaged areas not receiving additional funding.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, who told the 21st Century Public Services: Putting People First conference that they empowered communities.

He said it was important to "put local people in the driving seat, not just by holding service providers accountable, but taking power themselves." He highlighted the need for neighbourhood managers "acting as advocates and brokers for local people."