Neighbourhood Renewal Renewed

Under the Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy, the Minister has committed some £60million over the next three years to addressing the very real needs of people living in these communities. This will tackle multiple deprivation in specific areas by focusing on local needs as identified by the communities themselves.

Minister Richie said:

Over the last two years, my Department has established Partnerships in each Neighbourhood Renewal area which are representative of the community and include local politicians, as well as statutory bodies working in the area. The Partnerships have put a lot of hard work into producing long-term Action Plans for each area.

"For many hard working community groups and service providers this will offer much welcome financial certainty. For those groups directly delivering on Neighbourhood Renewal priorities, I will be offering three-year service contracts, subject to normal appraisal requirements.

"My Department will continue to work closely with other Departments to reach agreement on funding for those Neighbourhood Renewal activities which fall under their statutory responsibility. Whilst discussions continue, my Department will continue to resource groups delivering relevant services for up to a year.

My overriding objective is to ensure that we concentrate scarce resources where they will have maximum impact on the ground. For a small minority of groups this may be uncomfortable. For the vast majority, however, the approach will be welcomed. For the wider public, it will demonstrate that devolution does make a difference."

The Minister also indicated plans to move Neighbourhood Renewal closer to local government.

Margaret Ritchie said:

We already work with local government in this area. I want to build on that relationship and to use partnering arrangements on particular projects to test the feasibility of transferring some functions in advance of the new Councils being established.”