Public Participation in New Local Governance Spaces: The Case for Community Development in Local Strategic Partnerships

Research into public participation in local decision-making has increased over the past forty years, reflecting increased interest in the subject from academic, policy and practitioner perspectives. The same applies to community development, a valuesbased profession promoting a transformational agenda. During the New Labour government’s period in office (1997-2010), public participation featured centrally in several policies, reflecting their adherence to communitarian theory and Third Way politics. Additionally, the language of community development (promoting community empowerment and social justice) featured in these policies. Guidance for Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) – central to New Labour’s local government reforms – required them to facilitate public participation in decision-making, and used the language and values of community development. This paper reports on research into LSPs’ public participation practice. Applying a constructivist methodology, the research applied an evaluative framework reflecting the community development values in all 22 LSPs in the Yorkshire & Humber region. Data was collected through documentary review and interviews with LSP officials in each participating LSP. Case study research was conducted in one LSP, concentrating on two communities, generating deeper understanding of the process of facilitating public participation in different circumstances. Notions of power feature centrally in the analysis, and the research concludes that local authorities struggle to relinquish power to communities in any meaningful way, even within the context of government guidance requiring this process to be implemented. These findings are extrapolated to present a brief critique of the present UK government’s stated commitment to de-centralising power to communities in various policy areas

“It’s why young people choose to come here”:<i>Professional Love</i> and the Ethic of Care in Youth Work Practice

This paper extends the discourse on the importance of the relationship between practitioner and young person as a defining tenet of effective youth work practice, recognising the privileged position occupied by Youth Workers in the social ecology of the young people with whom they work. Reflecting the ethical obligations inherent in this relationship, particularly its focus on enhancing young people’s agency and developmental outcomes, the paper outlines how youth work practice infused with professional love aligns with conceptualizations of an ethic of care. Reporting on interviews conducted with Youth Workers practicing in different settings across one local authority area in the UK, the paper articulates how practitioners’ ethic of care shapes their work with young people, and the extent to which love features as an element of their professional practice. Practitioners describe their motivation to express care that extends beyond legalistic interpretations of their ‘duty of care’ towards young people, using the language of care, love and nurture almost interchangeably. The paper demonstrates the importance of inclusion and reciprocity as fundamental elements of ethical practice, as well as the need to infuse practice with hope, suggesting the value of an affirmative ethic to complement a focus on love and care

“It’s why young people choose to come here”:<i>Professional Love</i> and the Ethic of Care in Youth Work Practice

This paper extends the discourse on the importance of the relationship between practitioner and young person as a defining tenet of effective youth work practice, recognising the privileged position occupied by Youth Workers in the social ecology of the young people with whom they work. Reflecting the ethical obligations inherent in this relationship, particularly its focus on enhancing young people’s agency and developmental outcomes, the paper outlines how youth work practice infused with professional love aligns with conceptualizations of an ethic of care. Reporting on interviews conducted with Youth Workers practicing in different settings across one local authority area in the UK, the paper articulates how practitioners’ ethic of care shapes their work with young people, and the extent to which love features as an element of their professional practice. Practitioners describe their motivation to express care that extends beyond legalistic interpretations of their ‘duty of care’ towards young people, using the language of care, love and nurture almost interchangeably. The paper demonstrates the importance of inclusion and reciprocity as fundamental elements of ethical practice, as well as the need to infuse practice with hope, suggesting the value of an affirmative ethic to complement a focus on love and care

The Kirklees Prevent Young Peoples’ Engagement Team: Insights and lessons from its first year

The 2015 Counter-Terrorism Act placed a legal duty on all ‘specified’ English public bodies, including local authorities, to take due regard to prevent terrorism and extremism. Kirklees local authority in West Yorkshire responded by creating, with their own resources, a ‘Prevent Engagement Team’ that aimed to engage young people, both in schools and in the wider Kirklees community, in preventative anti-extremism work. This report provides analysis of the first year of the team’s operation, based on qualitative research with the Prevent Engagement team and wider stakeholders carried out by the University of Huddersfield research team; the University team also devised and delivered a bespoke training course for the Prevent team and a wider group of colleagues engaged in Prevent work