Research report 22: liveability in NDC areas: findings from six case studies

New Deal for Communities (NDC) is a key programme in the Government's strategy to tackle multiple deprivation by giving some of the poorest communities in the UK the resources to tackle their problems in an intensive and co-ordinated way. The programme, which began in 1998, has encouraged the development of partnerships between local people, community and voluntary organisations, public agencies, local authorities and business. These partnerships are working to tackle the problems of social exclusion and make a lasting improvement to their neighbourhood, with the active involvement of the local community. While different areas face different problems, the five main issues to be tackled by NDC partnerships are: worklessness; improving health; tackling crime; raising educational achievement; and housing and the physical environment. Sustainable Cities Research Institute is part of a national consortium carrying out the evaluation of NDC. The evaluation is led by Sheffield Hallam University and involves 14 UK research centres, universities, and private consultancy firms. Sustainable Cities staff involved with this work are Keith Shaw, who is the North East Region Co-ordinator (with responsibility for Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Newcastle and Sunderland partnerships), and Gill Davidson, who is carrying out evaluation tasks in Middlesbrough. Also involved in this work at a regional level are staff members from the University's School of Politics, and from the University of Newcastle. The evaluation began with a scoping phase in October 2001. The evaluation is expected to continue in its current format until at least 2005, with annual evaluation reports being produced in 2003, 2004, and 2005. Sustainable Cities is also undertaking research for a series of case studies focusing on West Middlesbrough NDC; so far these have covered subjects including mainstreaming, involving hard-to-reach young people in regeneration, and liveability

Managing for local resilience: towards a strategic approach

The term resilience is increasingly being used to capture the challenges involved in managing in ‘hard times’. This article aims to provide one of the first empirical studies of the term’s application to local authority interventions around emergency planning and climate change: two areas in which resilience has been particularly emphasised in local policy making. Drawing upon research undertaken in the north east of England, the article considers how local managers have understood and applied the term, the extent to which it has been developed as a coherent policy agenda, and its strategic significance. In reframing the debate on resilience in terms of discourses of ‘recovery’ and ‘transformation’, the article examines how, in addition to informing policy realities on the ground, resilience is also a normative, politically laden term, within which conservative narratives of uncertainty, vulnerability and anxiety compete with a more radical focus on hope, adaptation and transformation. The study reveals concerns over the term’s longevity, tensions between the different interpretations of resilience, and the lack of a coherent strategic framework within which the different discourses on resilience could be considered and reconciled. However, the article also captures the growing importance of a resilience narrative that is seen to add value in a period of austerity, integrate key features of climate change adaptation and emergency planning, and act as a ‘strategic lynchpin’ in relation to other policy areas, such as economic resilience

The voluntary and community sector in Blyth Valley - developing a vision for the future

1. Sustainable Cities Research Institute has produced this report following research carried out on behalf of Blyth Valley Local Strategic Partnership. The research involved documentary analysis, case studies, and interviews and focus groups involving key players within the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS). 2. The VCS is regarded as a significant contributor to the area’s economy and a key service delivery agent. Broadly defined, it contributes about 3.8% of regional GDP and employs an estimated 4.4% of the region’s workforce. An estimated 40,000 organisations are thought to be active in the region. 3. A number of external pressures influencing the sector were identified: the need to engage with LSPs and play a full part in other local and regional networks; the need to respond to changes in governance structures; funding changes such as the end of SRB funding; and the need for strong infrastructure organisations to support the sector and enhance communication systems. 4. Contributors identified the following strengths of Blyth Valley VCS: good partnership working; dedicated volunteers; flexibility and speed of response; valuable training provision; high quality community centres; excellent community links, including involving hard to reach people; value for money; and diversity within the sector. 5. However, it was thought that the following areas could be improved upon: the relationship with the LSP; some community buildings being underused; heavy reliance on a few key staff and volunteers; structural issues, which can result in duplication of resources; heavy demands in terms of time, resources and skills; inflexible monitoring systems; the problems of short-term funding; level of social economy activity; and the need to promote the sector. 6. A number of aspirations were identified for the sector: better funding arrangements and more long-term funding; developing the infrastructure by building more centres outside Blyth town; more centralised organisational support for VCS agencies; more social economy activity, and closer working between agencies. 7. The preferred option for the future of the VCS was the development of a new infrastructure organisation that can, where appropriate, incorporate the existing infrastructure organisations and provide support to the sector as a whole. It was thought that the option of establishing this new organisation as a Development Trust should be further explored. 8. The new organisation could act as a ‘One Stop Shop’ providing advice and support on fundraising, management, human resources, health and safety, insurance, and training. It could also lend weight to funding applications; help to develop more sustainable relationships with the Council and LSP, thus freeing the Community Development Team to develop its strategic role; enhance levels of co-ordination within the sector; and develop a dedicated research facility for the sector. 9. To minimise the range of concerns expressed about how the process of change is to be managed, it is recommended that the next step should be to commission a feasibility study that will explore the various options regarding the process of change - and the establishment of the new organisation - in greater detail. 10. This report will be launched at an event held for Blyth Valley VCS in Spring 2004

“Northern Lights:” an assessment of the political and economic challenges facing North East England in the context of greater Scottish autonomy

Drawing on recent research on the Anglo-Scottish border, this article examines the social and economic impact of a more powerful Scotland on its “nearest neighbors” in the North East of England. In examining a series of competing narratives that shape how the significance of the Anglo-Scottish border and borderlands have been understood, the discussion begins by highlighting the longevity of a traditional conflictual narrative that a more powerful Scotland will undermine the North East’s economic fortunes. The article will further consider the strength of a competitive narrative by capturing how North East reactions to the independence referendum north of the border have been used as a springboard to argue for greater powers to be devolved to the North East itself— and has led directly to a new generation of “Devolution Deals” being offered by the UK Government to the English regions. Thirdly, the article will examine how the discursive space created by the referendum campaign (and outcome) has created the conditions within which a collaborative narrative—highlighting how Scotland and the North East of England have a shared history and common social and economic challenges—has emerged. The article will conclude by considering whether the emergence of a new cross-border relationship between the “Northern Lights” allows the Anglo-Scottish border to be conceptualized more as a “bridge” than a “barrier,” particularly given the UK’s recent decision to leave the EU. Scottish independence represents a real threat to the region. If Scotland gets tax powers and offers lower corporation tax it could mean that firms leave the region and move north of the border. (John Shipley, former Leader of Newcastle Council, quoted in Schmuecker, Lodge, and Goodall 2012 Schmuecker, K., G. Lodge, and L. Goodall. 2012, 4). The growth of a strong economic power in the north of these islands would benefit everyone – our closest neighbours in the north of England more than anyone. There would be a “northern light” to redress the influence of the “dark star” (London) in rebalancing the economic centre of gravity of these islands. (Alex Salmond MSP, quoted in The New Statesman March 5, 2014.

Brexit and Devolution: a view from North of Tyne and the Anglo-Scottish Borderlands

Despite the shadow of Brexit, this chapter examines how the North East has developed bottom-up opportunities for genuine devolution on new spatial scales

Bringing the Anglo-Scottish Border `back in?: reassessing cross-border relations in the context of greater Scottish autonomy

This special issue of the Journal of Borderlands Studies “brings the Anglo-Scottish border back in” by drawing upon six of the contributions from an ESRC Seminar Series on the nature of the cross-border relationship between Scotland and its “closest cousins,” in Northern England. The seminars, which took place in 2014–2015, involved a range of contributors including academics, policy-makers and practitioners, with the academics drawn from a range of disciplines, including politics, cultural history, visual culture, economic geography, sociology, and planning. This introduction will examine the main characteristics of the Anglo–Scottish border and capture the nature of contemporary border change. It will then focus on the cross-border relationship between Scotland and the North of England before highlighting the key themes of the six articles contained in this special issue. It will conclude by examining how debates on the Anglo–Scottish border, and its borderlands, can be located within recent attempts to reconceptualize borders and bordering