living places newsletter | July 2009

Welcome to the July living places newsletter. This month, as well as updating you on the latest news from the programme, we’ve tried to give you a flavour of what is going on across arts, culture and regeneration. We’ve also included examples of work that our partner organisations are doing, to show how the living places approach is supporting delivery in communities across the country.

If you have examples you would like to share we’d love to hear from you.

We have a strengthened news section, including information on consultations from CLG and the Tenants Services Authority, the announcement of winners of the HCA Awards and the opening of nominations for the BURA awards for regeneration.

We’ve also included a calendar, with information on forthcoming events you might be interested in. Again, if you are organising or know of an event that you would like included, please get in touch. In addition we have recently published a diagram of the living places programme structure to aid with your communication of the programme - available here.

Please provide us with feedback, and do forward this on to others who might have an interest.

Leah Whittingham, Programme Manager
Helen Cooper, Programme Support Officer

Minister Visits Priority Places

Gerry Sutcliffe, Minister for Sport, recently visited two Priority Places – Stratford in the Thames Gateway on 14th May, and Taunton in the South West on 11th June.

In Stratford the Minister viewed the Olympic site and surrounding areas, including Canning Town, from Holden Point Tower . He then visited a multi-sports facility for young people, and concluded the visit at Stratford Circus Arts Centre, where a range of live performances including circus skills, dance and music were staged. The strength of the Arts Centre's partnership with the FE college was apparent.

In Taunton he gained first hand experience of the relationship between the South West Priority Place Partnership and the Taunton Cultural Partnership/Consortium, visiting the Brewhouse Theatre, Taunton Pool, and the Somerset Cricket ground.

Case studies and images

As part of the refresh of the living places website we have re-launched the regional pages. We are looking for fresh case studies and images from all regions to add to these pages. Please send Helen Cooper any examples, or complete the online form. DHA Communications will be providing additional support.

Building schools for the future

We’d be interested in finding out if anyone has been using the living places approach or the culture and sport planning toolkit in work on Building Schools for the Future (BSF) projects. If you have any thoughts or experience on this please contact Melissa Milner at DHA Communications.

CLG Consultation

The new Communities Secretary John Denham has announced he will consult on ideas to strengthen central/ local relations with the option for legislation. The pledge comes as part of the Government's drive to renew Britain's democracy and restore trust in the political system at every level.

John Denham said, "As the Prime Minister has made clear democratic renewal cannot simply be limited to change at Westminster, this is an opportunity for us to look at the way in which communities are actively engaged right across the country.

"Every citizen has the right to shape the communities in which they live. Crucially that means the right to elect their local leaders, the right to have services that meet their needs and the means to demand action where change is needed. Strong local democracy is dependent on councils that are effective, responsive and accountable and well positioned to serve local people.”

For more information see the CLG website.

HCA Awards

Winners of the Homes and Communities Academy Awards 2009 were announced on 9th June. The winners and finalists display a diverse range of projects transforming places across the country. Exeter’s Royal Albert Memorial Museum from the South West Priority Place partnership was a finalist in the ‘Places for All’ category for its ‘Living Here’ local heritage programme.

The Academy said, “The winners demonstrate what can be achieved through strong partnerships, a clear vision and high-quality implementation.” For more information see the HCA website.

Representatives from living places, Roy Clare, Chief Executive of MLA, Phil Cave, Director of Public Engagement, Arts Council, Deborah Lamb, Director, Policy and Communications, English Heritage and Mihir Warty, Director of Policy and Performance, Sport England were part of the judging panel.

Enterprising Britain 2009

Enterprising Britain is a nationwide competition to find the most enterprising place in the UK - the town, city, place or area in the country that is best improving economic prospects and encouraging enterprise. The Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust in the South East Priority Place region has been announced as the South East finalist in the awards.

Bill Ferris, Chief Executive of Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust said, "Winning the regional heat of the Enterprising Britain competition is a fantastic achievement and we are delighted to have been recognised in this, our 25th anniversary year for all our hard work in the wider field of regeneration."

For more information see the case study on the living places website.

2009 regeneration and renewal awards

A shortlist for the upcoming Regeneration and Renewal Awards has been released. See the awards website for more details of the awards and the awards dinner.

BURA awards open for entries

Nominations are now being sought for the 2009 BURA Awards for Regeneration.

The awards cover 3 categories:

BURA Awards for Best Practice in Regeneration
BURA Awards for Community Inspired Regeneration
The Waterways Renaissance Awards

It would be great to see lots of entries from living places partners. When you make your entry remember to show how you have used the living places Culture and Sport Planning Toolkit to shape regeneration in your area.

For more details visit BURA's website.

New ministers for arts, culture and regeneration

The June Cabinet reshuffle has meant some changes in responsibilities and some new faces overseeing some of the areas of government policy which will interest living places partners.

Ben Bradshaw is the new Secretary of State for Culture. For a short profile of the new Minister visit the DCMS website. Gerry Sutcliffe and Barbara Follett remain as Ministers for sport and for the arts respectively.

At the Department for Communities and Local Government, John Denham is now the Secretary of State and John Healey is the new housing Minister.

For more information on their responsibilities visit CLG's website.

There have also been some changes to the Regional Ministers. These are now:

Minister for London: Tessa Jowell MP
Minister for the North East of England: Nick Brown MP
Minister for the North West of England: Phil Woolas MP
Minister for Yorkshire and the Humber: Rosie Winterton MP
Minister for the East of England : Barbara Follett MP
Minister for the South West: Jim Knight MP
Minister for the West Midlands: Ian Austin MP
Minister for the East Midlands: Phil Hope MP
Minister for the South East: Jonathan Shaw MP

TSA consultation

The Tenants Services Agency (TSA) has announced the results of its national conversation, and a formal consultation on its draft standards.

The 27,000 social housing tenants from across the country who took part in the first phase of the TSA's groundbreaking National Conversation have listed getting repairs and maintenance right, ensuring homes are up to date and in a decent condition, tackling anti-social behaviour and being involved in decisions as top priorities for their landlords.

The TSA will now use this feedback to propose new standards for landlords – the first to ever be developed – to help improve services for tenants.

The consultation on the draft standards runs until 8 September 2009. The final phase will be a statutory consultation which will be launched in the Autumn 2009.

For more information, visit TSA's website.

HCA and Norwich partnership

The HCA has announced a partnership with Norwich City Council - an outcome of the HCA's new 'Single Conversation' business process with Local Authorities and other partners. Strategic objectives of the partnership include the creation of sustainable communities and the delivery of specific regeneration projects. For more information see HCA's website.

Community builders fund

The Government’s £70 million Communitybuilders fund is due to open at the end of the summer. The fund is jointly run by Communities and Local Government and the Office of the Third Sector and is designed to strengthen the resilience of multi-purpose community-led organisations across England through a mixture of financial and advisory support.

Communitybuilders will provide a mix of loans, grants and non-financial support at different stages of the project cycle, supporting both existing organisations and newly formed organisations.

Bids are being sought from organisations, often known as 'community anchors' (which include but are not limited to development trusts, settlements and multi-purpose community organisations).

For more information see the Communities and Local Government website or email communitybuilders@communities.gsi.gov.uk.

Empty shopfront initiative

The initiatives for temporary use of empty shops announced in April by DCMS and CLG are starting to bear fruit. Time Out recently featured an article about the Apollo in Herne Hill, London, a disused video store which was transformed into a space of celebration and performance. The Apollo's appearance comes to an end soon, but there are other initiatives taking place.

The new CLG guidance, which includes special planning application waivers, standard interim-use leases, and the temporary leasing of shops to councils, will allow empty shops to be transformed into cultural, community or learning services. This gives the potential for town centres to be alive with galleries, performance spaces and community libraries, for example, instead of boarded-up shops - a vital stimulus to countering effects of the recession.

living places will be following the effects of the new provisions - we'd love to hear from your region with similar examples of empty shopfront use. We're also looking into producing guidance on how to make the process of obtaining the right to use these empty spaces as simple and user-friendly as possible. We will be updating you on the new town centre guidance later in July.

living places events

Late August (date tbc) – living places national partners visit to Taunton, south west, priority area
9th September – Eco towns event - The Lightbox, Woking, in partnership with CLG
22nd September – first meeting of CSPT advisory group
1st October – CSPT dissemination event in London
5th October – CSPT dissemination event in Manchester

If you have an event you would like included please email helen.cooper@mla.gov.uk

Other events

For all BURA events visit their online calendar.

If you would like to include any information in the newsletter then send your contributions, by the second week of each month, to the living places Programme Support Officer, Helen Cooper.

We are looking in particular for updates on activity, information on events and training in your area that other members might be interested in attending and the sharing of best practice. This could take the form of a case study, for example. This newsletter is for you and we would like to make it as interesting and relevant as it can be.

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