Town praised for progress on community budgeting
Thursday, 1st November 2012.
ONE Haverhill has received praise from fellow pilot towns after it presented an update to the Government’s Neighbourhood Community Budget (NCB) Peer Challenge Panel.
Haverhill has been chosen by the Government as one of 12 areas in the UK to pilot a new way of giving local communities more say in the way budgets are spent.
The Peer Challenge gives pilot areas a chance to hear an update on one another’s community budget draft operational plans and learn about the different ways in which areas have shaped the community budget concept.
The panel is also made up of Government officials from the Department for Communities and Local Government who are supporting the pilot areas.
The panel praised ONE Haverhill for the clear concept of how the community budget could work in Haverhill and singled out local business involvement as a particularly strong feature.
The panel said in a letter to ONE Haverhill: “It is clear that ONE Haverhill sees the NCB as a real opportunity to change things for the better in the town. You have made excellent progress so far, due in no small part to the strong commitment of partners on the ONE Haverhill Board.
“Overall, you have a clear conception of how your NCB could work, have followed a structured process to define its scope and potential budgets, and have enabled local people to have their say in a range of ways. Local business involvement is a particularly strong feature and one that we know you want to develop further.
“In particular the challenge session highlighted the important contribution made by the business sector so far – via Sarah Howard as the business representative on ONE Haverhill.”
ONE Haverhill was also commended for its decision to focus on a manageable package of services, develop an approach that works, and grow from there, rather than seeking to map all activity and spend in the town.
Two key areas of public funding have been identified in Haverhill to look at first, monies spent on improving the physical environment and opportunities for young people.
Around 600 people have been involved in the community engagement consultation to date (around one in 40 local residents) giving their views on which of the areas under these headings are most important through a series of consultations involving surveys and interviews at public events.
Sarah Howard, vice-chairman of ONE Haverhill, said: “We were very pleased with the feedback from the peer challenge panel and it was very helpful for the pilots to share where we are with one another to learn from how each area has chosen to implement the pilot.”
The first two stages of the community budget pilot preparation are now complete with ONE Haverhill having identified the services, through community engagement, that they will look at and identified how much money is spent in these areas.
The third stage will be to involve the community in how that money could be spent differently and more efficiently in the town.
ONE Haverhill will be asked by the Department for Communities and Local Government to submit their final operational plans on March 28 with the Haverhill Community Budget being implemented from April 1.
Haverhill has been chosen by the Government as one of 12 areas in the UK to pilot a new way of giving local communities more say in the way budgets are spent.
The Peer Challenge gives pilot areas a chance to hear an update on one another’s community budget draft operational plans and learn about the different ways in which areas have shaped the community budget concept.
The panel is also made up of Government officials from the Department for Communities and Local Government who are supporting the pilot areas.
The panel praised ONE Haverhill for the clear concept of how the community budget could work in Haverhill and singled out local business involvement as a particularly strong feature.
The panel said in a letter to ONE Haverhill: “It is clear that ONE Haverhill sees the NCB as a real opportunity to change things for the better in the town. You have made excellent progress so far, due in no small part to the strong commitment of partners on the ONE Haverhill Board.
“Overall, you have a clear conception of how your NCB could work, have followed a structured process to define its scope and potential budgets, and have enabled local people to have their say in a range of ways. Local business involvement is a particularly strong feature and one that we know you want to develop further.
“In particular the challenge session highlighted the important contribution made by the business sector so far – via Sarah Howard as the business representative on ONE Haverhill.”
ONE Haverhill was also commended for its decision to focus on a manageable package of services, develop an approach that works, and grow from there, rather than seeking to map all activity and spend in the town.
Two key areas of public funding have been identified in Haverhill to look at first, monies spent on improving the physical environment and opportunities for young people.
Around 600 people have been involved in the community engagement consultation to date (around one in 40 local residents) giving their views on which of the areas under these headings are most important through a series of consultations involving surveys and interviews at public events.
Sarah Howard, vice-chairman of ONE Haverhill, said: “We were very pleased with the feedback from the peer challenge panel and it was very helpful for the pilots to share where we are with one another to learn from how each area has chosen to implement the pilot.”
The first two stages of the community budget pilot preparation are now complete with ONE Haverhill having identified the services, through community engagement, that they will look at and identified how much money is spent in these areas.
The third stage will be to involve the community in how that money could be spent differently and more efficiently in the town.
ONE Haverhill will be asked by the Department for Communities and Local Government to submit their final operational plans on March 28 with the Haverhill Community Budget being implemented from April 1.
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