Why does Bristol have a Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy?

Bristol is one of 88 local authorities to be given Neighbourhood Renewal funding to tackle the renewal of our poorer communities.

£15 million pounds of additional money will come to the city from 2001 to 2006 to meet national target for:

• crime
• jobs
• education
• health
• housing
• physical environment.

This money must be targeted at ensuring public and private sector services are delivered in the most effective way for the benefit of poorer neighbourhoods.

Within ten years, no one in Bristol should be seriously disadvantaged by where they live.

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What will it do?

The National Strategy Action Plan, drawn up by the Government, has set out a number of minimum standards for all communities. These standards relate to improvements in:

• jobs
• education
• health
• housing
• and tackling crime and disorder

The Bristol Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy must address all of these.

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Aim

The aim of the Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy is to stop disadvantaged neighbourhoods getting worse, and improve the range of services to local people. In order to do this action needs to be taken on four fronts:

• Reviving local economies

• Reviving communities

• Ensuring decent services

• Leadership and joint working.

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How is it funded?

• The Neighbourhood Renewal Fund To take this strategy forward the Government have allocated a Neighbourhood Renewal Fund for a five-year period from April 2001 to help focus mainstream services - not just Council services - to address key issues in priority areas.

• The Neighbourhood Renewal Fund has been allocated as a special grant to Bristol City Council, making the Council accountable for how the money is spent. However, the Bristol Partnership are responsible for the strategic direction and overall delivery of the programme.

• The Community Empowerment Fund administered through the Government Office for the South West, is to support a voluntary and community sector network. VOSCUR and Black Development Agency are responsible for this funding.

• The Community Chest Fund whose purpose is to promote and encourage a wide variety of grass roots community activity, so that local residents cam get involved in their own communities and to take an interest in the improvement of their areas.

• In Bristol tackling drugs misuse is a priority - the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund supports a number of crime initiatives in this area. Additional police in St Paul's, new drug workers in St Paul's, Knowle West and Southmead and neighbourhood warden schemes are in place already.

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What is the city council doing about it?

The city council has developed a Local Strategic Partnership - the Bristol Partnership - which brings together different sectors, agencies, communities of interests, and representatives of localities, to take an overview of the city. It is - with with over 85 members - one of the most inclusive in the country.

More information on the Bristol Partnership can by following selecting Bristol Partnership in related links.

We have also developed, with the Bristol Partnership, a local Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy to ensure that the funding is spent in the most effective way. To do this we have:

• Identified the priority neighbourhoods
• Gathered an understanding of the specific problems which face these neighbourhoods
• Looked at the overall resources that currently go into these areas
• Identified the gaps in service delivery that are failing to address the problems.

Current work includes:

• Developing local neighbourhood action plans
• Monitoring and evaluation of the delivery of agreed targets.

For more background information please select Publications and reports from related links, and download one of our Neighbourhood Renewal Newsletters.

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Tackling Drugs

In Bristol tackling drugs misuse is a priority - the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund supports a number of crime initiatives in this area. Additional police in St Paul's, new drug workers in St Paul's, Knowle West and Southmead and neighbourhood warden schemes are in place already.

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