Community Planning – Page 2 – The Community Planning Toolkit

Community Dialogue

How do communities make decisions? Not through consultations, but through conversation – community dialogue…

How do communities make decisions? Not through consultations, but through conversation - community dialogue...

In more detail

A community is a group of people who share a common interest, values and/or identity. The word ‘community’ comes from the Latin word ‘communis’ meaning ‘things held together’. Dialogue refers to words exchanged between people. The word ‘dialogue’ comes from Greek words meaning ‘words between’. So, 'community dialogue’ means something like: ‘words between us that help to hold things together’. A conversation with purpose and meaning.

Community dialogue is largely how civil society and the community groups and others which make it up, decide what to do. Whilst public sector bodies, like councils, make their decisions based on elections and on consultations; and businesses may make their decisions based on the market; making decisions in civil society involves chatting them through?

Sustainable progress

If you want your neighbourhood to be somewhere which is improved because of the things people do as families and communities - civil society - then creating the means for dialogue matters a great deal. Self-sustaining improvement comes from being able to talk to each other so we can work out how to make progress. Which means, investing in the means for community dialogue - a local community hub, a hyperlocal website, community lunches - and using community dialogue as a way of community planning is investing in the long-term ability of your neighbourhood community to make progress.

Could you start neighbourhood improvement not be organising a consultation, but by looking at developing the means for people to get involved in community dialogue?

Key Facts:

If public services make decisions through elections and formal consultations; busineses make their decisions dependent on the market; civil society - communities - make decisions through community dialogue: 'words between us that help to hold things together’. Perhaps one way to get sustainable improvement going in a neighbourhood is to focus on making better ways that people can talk and listen to one another?

Page Links from here

Improving Communication

Community

Community Hubs and Networks

Community Planning

OR you can use the navigation menu above right to look at other parts of the toolkit.

BIRMINGHAM COMMUNITY PLANNING TOOLKIT DEFINITION SHEET This sheet may be reproduced in paper or electromic or any other form but please mention it was made by Chamberlain Forum Limited for Birmingham City Council supported by Department for Communities and Local Government.

created: 2016-07-08 11:48:32

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Freedom of Information

Freedom of information means that recorded infromation held by public authorities is generally presumed to be publicly available, but there are exceptions and limits…

Freedom of information means that recorded infromation held by public authorities is generally presumed to be publicly available, but there are exceptions and limits...

In more detail

Anyone can make a freedom of information request of any public authority in England . About 120,000 requests are made each year – mostly by private citizens and community groups; but the law is also used extensively by businesses, charities and journalists and media organisations.

Freedom of Information Act 2000

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 is based on the principle that people have a right to know about the activities of public authorities unless there is a good reason for them not to. The law gives the public access to information held by public authorities through:

the publication of certain information by authorities
information requests made by members of the public.

The Act applies to any ‘recorded information’ (in the form of documents, computer files, letters, emails, video and sound recordings and photographs, diagrams and maps etc) that is held by a public authority in England. That includes: government departments, local councils, the NHS, state schools and the police. The Act does not necessarily apply to every publicly-funded organisation that receives public money. Most organisations which receive grants from public bodies and businesses which do work on contract for public services are not subject to freedom of information (although they may have requirements to make information publicly available written into their grant agreements and contracts).

Principles

Public authorities have a duty to provide information, unless they can show there is a good reason not to, regardless of who you are (you don’t have to be a British citizen, have any special qualifications or be a taxpayer) or what you want it for. You do not have to say why you want the information when you ask for it. An authority must consider your request impersonally – that means they can’t turn your request down because of who you are; but they also can’t accept your request because of who you are or why you want the information.

Notes and Limitations

The law sets out a legal minimum. Authorities may disclose more information as they see fit. Which means, for example, that you might get two different responses to the same request to two different local councils.

The law is designed to provide openness about the work of the public sector, not the private sector. GPs and other health practitioners, for example, only have to give information about their NHS work.

Where local councils transfer responsibility for services to a company which is owned by the council (like an Arms Length Management Company in social housing), the company is subject to the terms of the law as if it was still part of the council.

MPs and councillors are not public authorities and are not covered by the act. Neither they, nor the public authorities who may store some of their recorded information (in email accounts etc) have to provide information that belongs to them. Authorities do not have to supply information they store on behalf of other individuals (like personnel records) or organisations (eg the files of a voluntary organisation which are held on the council server).

The law covers all documents held by a public authority. That includes, for example letters and emails sent to it and its officers by other members of the public – although the council might say there was a good reason for not releasing these. Information that is in the heads of officers is not recorded and so is not covered. Where the information is stored does not affect whether it is covered.

Public Interest and Exemptions

In general, an authority must consider whether releasing information under the Act is in the public interest and may withhold the information is it decides it is not. This is the ‘public interest test’ Certain types of information are exempted, however. There are 8 absolute exemptions, regardless of public interest:

Information that is accessible by other means
Information relating to or dealing with security matters
Information contained in court records
Where disclosure of the information would infringe parliamentary privilege
Information held by the House of Commons or the House of Lords, where disclosure would prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs
Information which the applicant could either obtain under the Data Protection Act (see below) or where release would breach data protection principles
Information provided in confidence
When disclosing the information is prohibited by an enactment; incompatible with an EU obligation; or would commit a contempt of court.

Information may also be exempted, subject to a public interest test, if it:

Is intended for future publication
Does not deal with security matters but is a matter of national security
Relates to current investigations and proceedings being undertaken by a public authority
Relates to the formation of government policy etc
Has to do with communications with members of the Royal family, and conferring honours
Would affect disclosure of environmental information under the Environmental Information Regulations
Is information covered by professional legal privilege
Constitutes trade secrets

Or would be likely to prejudice defence; international and diplomatic relations; the economic interests of the country; law enforcement; the auditing functions of any public authorities; or commercial interests – or endanger health and safety or the effective conduct of public affairs or free and frank provision of advice and debate.

Vexatious Requests

A public authority is not obliged to comply with a request for information if the request is vexatious. A vexatious request is one which is ‘obsessive or manifestly unreasonable’, harasses the authority or causes distress to its staff, imposes a significant burden, or if the request lacks any serious value.

Data Protection

The Data Protection Act 1998 set out rules for organisations to use in handling personal information. It gave people the right to see what personal information, organisations of all sorts hold about them. It also required businesses, public authorities and voluntary organisations to take steps to safeguard personal information and protect people’s privacy.

Data Protection and Freedom of Information can be in conflict. If, for example, the release of information held by a government agency relating to benefit claims could be used to identify who in a neighbourhood was claiming benefits, then it would be against the data protection law to release the information under freedom of information. In this case, the agency would take steps to anonymise the data before releasing it.

The same regulator - the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) – applies in regulating the terms of the Freedom of Information Act and the Data Protection Act.

Key Facts:

Freedom of information applies to recorded information held by public agencies and some organisations acting on their behalf. Although there is a general preseumption in favour of disclosing information, public bodies have to apply a public interest test to the decision. There are specific exclusions and the council and other bodies can turn down a request that is 'vexatious'. Data protection laws mean that information derived from personal data must be made anaonymous before it is released.

Page Links from here

Information Commissioner’s Office Guide to Freedom of Information is aimed at people who work in public agencies and are responsible for ensuring freedom of information

See in the toolkit:

Open Data

Data Geography

Making a Freedom of Information Request

OR you can use the navigation menu above right to look at other parts of the toolkit.

created: 2016-07-05 14:35:00

by: admin

status: f published

Social Value

Improving a neighbourhood isn’t just about increasing property value and ensuring jobs. Communities are often more concerned with the state of shared wealth and wellbeing in a place – its social value…

Improving a neighbourhood isn't just about increasing property value and ensuring jobs. Communities are often more concerned with the state of shared wealth and wellbeing in a place - its social value...

In more detail

Social value is value that is held socially (shared between people) rather than included in the accounts of individual householders and businesses. It includes, for example:

the value of shared spaces and fresh air - streetscapes; landscapes; parks and community gardens
the value of social capital - having links with other people and knowing how to get things done through the community
the value of some human capital - skills and know-how that it is hard to put an economic value on (like parenting skills, for example)
the value of unpaid labour - the time spent by carers and neighbours and doing jobs for people without payment.

As well as these stores of social value, there is a whole area of it to do with how goods are made and services are delivered which is not reflected in their price. For example:

the use of local labour and materials - which can enhance the value of public services and construction works and reduce the amount of pollution involved
the way that the benefits of work are distributed between people - a part-time job for someone who is disabled or otherwise excluded from work is probably worth more than overtime to someone who already has a job
learning of new skills and ways of working- which may not be directly reflected in the quality of what is brought to market, but which enables us as a society to achieve more, and better, in future.

Social Value Act

The Public Services (Social Value) Act of 2012 came into force in 2013 and requires people who commission public services to think about how they can also secure wider social, economic and environmental benefits (ie social value). Before starting a procurement process, commissioners should think about whether the services they are going to buy, or the way they are going to buy them, could secure these benefits for their area or stakeholders. The video below shows Peter Holbrook of Social Enterprise UK explaining what the Social Value Act means:

Sustainable Communities Act

The Sustainable Communities Act 2007 enables councils - working in partnership with local communities - to make proposals as to how government can ‘assist councils in promoting the sustainability of local communities’. Itprovides an opportunity for local people, communities and councils to ask government to remove legislative or other barriers that prevent them from improving the economic, social and environmental well-being of their area (and thus add social value to it).

Power of General Competence

The Localism Act 2011 gives councils a 'power of general competence'. That is, councils are allowed to do anything that any other legal person (an individual or a business) can legally do so as to meet their aim which is to improve the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of their area. Councils can, for example, enter into partnerships to deliver new services or support initiatives which add to local well-being.

Key Facts:

Social value is shared wealth. It is why living in a neighbourhood with a good environment and a strong and inclusive community network is, for example, better than living in a badly-kept place where people don't talk to each other. Parliament requires public service providers to take social value into account when they commission services and enables councils to innovate and to ask government to change regulations which prevent communities from improving local social value.

Page Links from here

OR you can use the navigation menu above right to look at other parts of the toolkit.

created: 2016-07-05 10:52:05

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status: f published

Devolution

Devolution in Scotland and Wales means more powers for national Parliaments and Assemblies, but what does it mean for English towns and cities? And for the neighbourhoods we live in…

Devolution in Scotland and Wales means more powers for national Parliaments and Assemblies, but what does it mean for English towns and cities? And for the neighbourhoods we live in...

In more detail

Devolution means passing decisions, powers and resources down to a lower, more local level. It can apply at:

national level – passing decisions and budgets from Whitehall to regional and city-regional levels
local level – passing decisions and budgets from the Town or City Hall to neighbourhoods.

National level

In England, the government has devolved powers to the Mayor of London and is in the process of devolution to Combined Authorities centred on Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Sheffield and elsewhere. Combined authorities cover a number of existing local councils which are committed to work together in return for devolution of budgets and responsibilities from government. It is likely that Combined Authorities will be led by directly elected mayors. The video below is of an Institute for Government discussion of the likely effect and challenges of devolution in respect of public services (this quite a long video).

Local level

A number of local councils, including Leeds and Birmingham, have devolved powers to area commitees. These committees are made up by councillors - they have been elected and are accountable for their decisions. Local committees, however, enable them to make decisions about the areas they represent. Alternative ways of local devolution in cities could include local directly elected mayors for neighbourhoods or setting up local parish councils in some neighbourhoods. The video below is from The Guardian newspaper - it features Councillor Simche Steinberger who is a councillor in LB Hackney, talking about how he hopes planning devolution can bring communities together.

Key Facts:

Devolution means making decisions at a mroe local level. It can apply at national level and at city level. It does not mean handing over power and responsibility for spending public money to people who are not democratically accountable.

Page Links from here

In this toolkit:

Your Local Council

Local Democracy

OR you can use the navigation menu above right to look at other parts of the toolkit.

created: 2016-07-03 10:37:08

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status: f published

Open Data

Could making data about your place enable people to become better informed about its potential…

Could making data about your place enable people to become better informed about its potential...

In more detail

Data is small bits of information (could be words or numbers) that on its own looks quite meaningless. When put in a structure (like a table, spreadsheet or a graph, for example) or compared with other bits of data, however, it can be used to make useful information. ‘Open data’ is data that is stored and made available so that it is easy for anyone to get hold of, share and use to make new and useful information.

Open Data as a duty and an opportunity

Councils and other public bodies have a duty to make data available to others. In some cases they also have a commitment which stretches beyond their duties. These duties and commitments are important and communities need to be aware of them, but open data is really more of an opportunity. This is because you can use open data to build information about the areas, challenges and opportunities they face. As more open data becomes available, it becomes more possible for communities to use and combine it to make useful information about the places we live and work. Those communities that are able to inform themselves and others (including developers, for example) about their neighbourhood will be in a better position to thrive economically and socially.

Key Facts:

Data is the raw material from which information is made. Open data is data which is stored and structured is such ways as to make it easier to get hold off and to use. Opening up data relating to your neighbourhood makes it easier for people to become informed about local opportunities and needs and to see how they might fit in constructively.

Page Links from here

The Open Data Institute has devised a 5 Star grade system to show how open data is

OR you can use the navigation menu above right to look at other parts of the toolkit.

created: 2016-06-29 12:13:03

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status: f published

Community Right to Bid (assets of community value)

Community ‘Right to Bid’ is one of the rights included in the Localism Act. It could play a key part in wider community planning of your neighbourhood…

Community 'Right to Bid' is one of the rights included in the Localism Act. It could play a key part in wider community planning of your neighbourhood...

In more detail

‘Community right to bid’ is one of the powers enabled by the Localism Act 2011. It enables bona fide community groups to apply to the council to have land and buildings in their area registered as assets of community value.

Register of Assets of Community Value

To add an asset on to the local register, you have to show that the land and buildings in question have been used in the past as an asset with social value and that they could feasibly be used again for community benefit (although not necessarily in the same way). For example, a residents’ association could apply to the local council to have local swimming baths registered as an asset of community value so long as it is feasible that the baths building could be used for community benefit in future (perhaps as a community venue or community workspace even if not as a swimming baths). Listed assets can be owned by anyone – including private individuals and businesses as well as community groups or public agencies: this is about the local pub or corner shop as much as it is about the library or community centre.

The advantage of listing land or buildings as an asset of community value is this: if a listed asset comes up for sale, then the owner must give six months for community groups to put together an offer to buy it before they can sell it on the open market. The community right to bid is a brake on selling off assets with community value, not a prohibition. Even so, listing land and buildings in your area that serve a vital community function is a practical straightforward step you can take to make it clear that the communities which share your neighbourhood want to preserve and improve local wellbeing and will not easily see it diminished.

The video below is a webinar on Community Right to Bid led by Anton Schultz of Locality

Your local council must keep a register of assets of community assets. They can, however, refuse your application. The landowner can appeal against their decision, in any case and can refuse any bid you might be able to put to them in the event of wanting to sell the asset. Even so, listing assets can be a powerful way of sending a message about the determination of your community to preserve and improve local social value and wellbeing.

Key Facts:

Community 'Right to Bid' enables community groups to have the council register land and buildings that have social value listed as such (regardless of who owns them). Being on the council's register means that, when these assets are sold, the community has six months to put together a bid to buy them before theycan be sold on the open market.

Page Links from here

The Step-by-Step Guide to Community Right to Bid from Locality

Guide to Community Right to Bid is available as a PDF

CAMRA's guide to 'Listing your Local'

In the toolkit:

Community Asset Transfer

Community Assets

Development Trusts

Neighbourhood Companies

OR you can use the navigation menu above right to look at other parts of the toolkit.

created: 2016-06-28 15:15:16

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status: f published

Local Democracy

Local democracy is about more than voting in an election; active and diverse community groups are part of a healthy local democracy too…

Local democracy is about more than voting in an election; active and diverse community groups are part of a healthy local democracy too...

In more detail

Local democracy isn’t just voting. Councils were set up, originally, in English cities, like Manchester and Birmingham, not because people voted for them, but because people campaigned for them. Taking part - participation - is an equal part to local democracy as is representation and voting for representatives. Neither participative not representative democracy is better than the other – though each may be better suited in different situations. One thing seems clear - successful neighbourhoods have active participative and representative democracy: people turn up and vote and people turn up and do. Turning up and doing is as much part of a healthy local democracy as voting in the election.

Representative Democracy

Representative democracy is where the people or members of an organisation elect representatives to serve them in the governance (decision-making) of a council or other organisation. Representatives are said to be ‘democratically accountable’ to the people or the members of the organisation – not just the ones who voted for them, but all the people in the area they represent. Local councils are organisations run on the basis of representative democracy. Decisions are often made in councils and representative democratic organisations by voting. It is fair, because everyone gets a say and we go along with whatever the majority says.

Participative Democracy

Participative democracy is where the people or members of an organisation are able to take part in the work and decision making of the organisation. In general, people who put a lot of work in to an organisation may expect to have their voices heard and counted in decisions, but everyone who is a member can be involved. Most community groups are run on the basis of participative democracy. Decisions are often made in community groups by discussion and consensus (which means working out a decision that everyone is at least reasonably happy with). It is fair, because everyone gets a chance to take part and no one has to go along with something they don't believe in.

There are advantages and disadvantages of both forms of democracy. They generally work best in different situations and councils, for example, will use both kinds of democracy to achieve different things. A successful neighbourhood is served well by both representative and participative organisations and organisations – like local councils and community groups – which can use both approaches when needed.

Key Facts:

Representative democracy means voting fairly and honestky for people to represent us. Participative democracy means working working for those things we believe in regardless of who votes for it. Both forms of democracy are legitimate and help make neighbourhoods what they are.

Page Links from here

In the toolkit see:

Your Council

Civil Society

OR you can use the navigation menu above right to look at other parts of the toolkit.

created: 2016-06-25 15:36:24

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status: f published

Neighbourhood Companies

Could the plan for turning round your neighbourhood be a business plan? Either as a stand-alone initiative or as part of the delivery of a community action plan, a neighbourhood company (what the French call regie de quartier, or district board) aims to improve the neighbourhood by involving local people – as paid staff, volunteers and Directors – in social enterprise.

In more detail

Think of neighbourhood companies as:

locally based community-led organisations
which have the betterment of the neighbourhood as a whole (as opposed to a particular community within it) as their objective
and which work as social enterprises, often providing a number of different services (their specialism is the neighbourhood, rather than functional).

In France, neighbourhood companies are called regies des quartiers (district boards) . In Spain, they might be set up as workers’ co-operatives. They are widespread in England, but we tend to call them by a variety of names. They include many development trusts; community trusts; local labour companies; neighbourhood management companies etc.

Likewise, they may be constituted in different ways. Some operate as non-profit Companies Limited by Guarantee (with or without Community Interest Company status); some are charities and some Charitable Incorporated Organisations. They may also be community benefit co-operatives. A few own significant amounts of housing and may be community-run housing associations or housing co-ops. Some are run by local businesses and may be called Business Associations or Town Centre Management Companies. They can all, perhaps, all be thought of as ‘neighbourhood companies’ – business-like and often generalist in the services they offer, but with a business advantage based on the synergies involved in working within a particular place.

The reasoning behind a neighbourhood company turns the logic of division of labour and mass production on its head. Rather than doing one thing everywhere, neighbourhood companies may aim, in principle to do anything, but only in one place. The locality – understanding how it and the people who share it work – is the source of their competitive advantage.

Regies des quartiers

In France, there are 140 district boards(regies des quartiers) covering 320 priority neighbourhoods – home to about 3 million people. Collectively, they employ about 8000 staff, and more volunteers, and are supported by 350 social landlords. Each board is run as an independent non-profit association with aim of improving the living environment of the neighbourhood by involving local people. The Board of Directors consists of local residents and representatives of the local authorities and social landlords that are active in the neighbourhood.

The boards sell goods and services and provide socially useful activities using local labour. As a baseline, most provide housing management related services to social landlords and neighbourhood management services (cleaner and greener type activities) for local authorities. They can be involved in refurbishing and renewing empty properties as well as maintenance and repairs. They may provide cleaning and maintenance services to local businesses and others. They may provide gardening, landscaping and the management of habitats and green spaces. Depending on local opportunities, the boards provide a very wide range of other services which can include building management and room hire, driving tuition, energy services, cycle maintenance and repairs, recycling services, motor vehicle repairs, cafes, childcare, laundries, local courier services, floristry, lift-and-shift services etc.

A vehicle for improving local services

Neighbourhood companies are not a new idea – perhaps just a fresh way of looking at what already exists. Depending on the priorities and opportunities in your neighbourhood, they might play a part alongside other community planning – including a neighbourhood plan – in making a better place to live by involving local communities. Getting directly involved in delivering services in the neighbourhood can give communities significant influence and 'leverage' (ability to get people and organisations to do things by working cooperatively with them) with other service providers - both public and private.

Key Facts:

Neighbourhood companies specialise in a place rather than a particular service or product. In English cities and towns, community development trusts and others may act as neighbourhood companies. In France, regies des quarteirs (neighbourhood boards) employ about 8000 workers in 320 neighbourhoods, home to aboput 3 million residents. Community led neighbourhood companies can focus and give direction to cooperative working between private and public services to make their neighbourhoods better places to live and do business.

Page Links from here

Development Trusts

Social Enterprise

Locality

OR you can use the navigation menu above right to look at other parts of the toolkit.

created: 2016-06-22 11:55:49

by: admin

status: f published

What is a Plan?

Local spatial plans are public, shared plans which aim to enable a place to develop to benefit the people who use it and live there (or might use it or live there in future). A neighbourhood plan is a kind of local spatial plan. But local spatial plans are not the only plans which affect the future of a place…

In more detail

A plan is a detailed proposal which sets out a model view of how a place or a project could be, or will be, developed. Plans can be: private or public; owned by an individual or shared by many people and organisations; prescriptive (say what will be) or enabling (say what could be). Local spatial plans – which include neighbourhood plans – are public. They are shared by everyone with an interest in a place. They aim to balance those interests so as to describe how the land can be developed to benefit everyone with an interest.

Plans are, however, never entirely neutral – they are always written from a particular point of view of how things should be. So, for example:

an engineering plan details a designer’s instructions about how a part or an assembly of parts is to be machined and assembled to make a product
a business plan sets out a business owner’s view of how a business idea or enterprise will develop in future
a site plan might set out an architect’s model of how a site will be developed
a local plan presents a framework agreed by the local authority of how a locality (which could be a village or a neighbourhood, or could be a whole city or conurbation) will develop.

Other Plans Matter...

Everybody makes plans and every active organisation produces plans, in some form. It is hard for a person to achieve much without a plan. For an organisation, or for group of people and organisations, it is impossible. Very small organisations with a simple purpose might rely on verbal plans, but most community groups, voluntary organisations, social enterprises and charities will have some kind of written idea of what they want to achieve and how they plan to do it. Most small businesses will have to produce a plan in order to borrow capital. All larger businesses produce plans – often at different levels: for shareholders, managers, departments, products, markets etc. In public sector organisations - like councils, the police and the NHS - plans are particularly important because these organisations tend to receive and spend resources on the basis of plans, rather than by marketing goods and services.

Weigh Up The Alternatives

A local spatial plan for your place can be a powerful way of setting out a shared vision for the future. It is not, however, the only important plan which affects your locality. It may be that you can improve the place you live or work by: influencing the plans of other organisations, like the council or the local police; working together to deliver existing plans more effectively; or by planning and doing things directly as a local community. A neighbourhood plan has the advantage that it is legally binding – it makes part of a thing called the local planning framework. A neighbourhood plan, however, can’t make things happen by itself and, because it forms part of the local planning framework, there are lots of things it cannot be used to say.

The aim of this toolkit is to help you think through whether neighbourhood planning might work for your place; to look at the alternatives; and, if a neighbourhood plan is right for where you are, to take on planning with confidence and approaches that will work.

Key Facts:

A neighbourhood plan is a local spatial plan: a public, shared document that says how your place should be developed. How your locality actually develops, however, depends on the plans you make and those made by other organisations - which you can influence. This toolkit will help you look at alternatives and to make a success of community planning - including neighbourhood planning.

Page Links from here

In this toolkit see:

Spatial Planning

Community Planning

Life Cycle of a Plan

OR you can use the navigation menu above right to look at other parts of the toolkit.

created: 2016-06-21 05:23:20

by: admin

status: f published

Community Asset Transfer

What if under-used land and buildings which belong to public bodies could be taken over by passionate community groups and development trusts and used to provide services to the community…

What if under-used land and buildings which belong to public bodies could be taken over by passionate community groups and development trusts and used to provide services to the community...

In more detail

Community Asset Transfer (CAT) is the process by which publicly owned land and buildings can be sold either freehold or leasehold to non-profit bodies at less than market value. CAT can lead to the rejuvenation of neglected public assets - run-down buildings and unloved patches of land.

The video above which suggests how community asset transfer can build community and improve neighbourhoods is also featured in this presentation on CAT made by Hannah Senior in 2013:

The enthusiasm of volunteers and residents to improve these assets when they are transferred to community owenrship has been matched in some cases by the ability of the new owners to attract capital investment from charitable sources including the National Lottery. The real ongoing benefit, however, is the value of the services which community groups are able to provide using previously tired assets.

Linda Hines of Witton Lodge Community Association interviewed on site, by Nick Booth of podnosh, at Perry Common Community Hall which was transferred through CAT to community ownership and has been transformed as a result.

Economic Justification

CAT is justified economically by comparing the additional economic value which the public body would get from the sale of the asset on the open market with the social value which the public body is able to enable by transferring it through CAT.

For example, a patch of disused health service land could be sold on the open market for £5000 to provide two car parking spaces. Alternatively, it could be transferred through CAT to a community group that would pay £500 for it. The group would turn it into a community garden which would produce benefits for local people and a local mental health project and might lead to greater neighbourliness, improved community safety and better recovery from mental ill-health. If the health service trust and its police and council partners value these benefits as being worth more than £4500, then they should choose use CAT to sell it to the community group.

The video below is about CAT in Penny Lane, Liverpool. It was produced by the Asset Transfer Unit (which was set up the Development Trusts Association, which was one of the bodies that came together to form Locality):

Transparency, Fairness and Social Valuation

CAT is potentially open to abuse where it involves transferring public assets to private (albeit non-profit and local) organisations without having a robust means for valuing social worth in place; without sufficient transparency; and without advertising opportunities to a wide range of potential bidders.

For example, a patch of land worth £5000 is sold to a community trust which is in fact a non-profit company owned by members of a local family for £500 on the basis that they will use it for 'community benefit'. What they actually do with it is to create car parking spaces for visitors to their office base from which they provide mental health services on contract with an NHS trust. The person who made the decision to sell them the land at 10% of the full market value is a friend of the family.

Support

The video below presents help and support available for CAT from My Community:

Key Facts:

Community Asset Transfer (CAT) is the process by which underused publicly owned land and buildings may be sold to non-profit organisations at less than market value in return for providing increased social value in the form of services to the local community. CAT has successfully turned ailing assets around, but there is potential for abuse. A robust approach to calculating social value, transparency and advertising opportunities to acquire assets widely all help to prevent abuse.

Page Links from here

Birmingham City Council's Community Asset Transfer website describes one council's approach to CAT

The My Community Rights site section on Community Asset Transfer presents an overview and a link to the toolkit on CAT

More videos about CAT are available on the Asset Transfer Unit YouTube channel

Housing Association Charitable Trust has produced a toolkit for housing providers on Asset Transfer

Have a look at Coin Street Community Builders on the South Bank in London which was one of the groups that helped to pioneer development trusts and CAT

In this toolkit see:

Social Value

Community Assets

Development Trusts

Neighbourhood Companies

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created: 2016-06-16 11:18:43

by: admin

status: f published