Access to services

Access to services is vital for the sustainability of all communities whether they are wholly publicly funded, wholly commercial or somewhere between the two.  The loss of such services not only affects the long-term viability of a community, but also directly impacts upon the quality of life of its residents.

Over the past 20 years, service provision has decreased across rural areas and it is not uncommon for rural villages to lack some very basic services.  Many market towns, traditionally the economic, social and cultural centres for their wider rural hinterlands, have seen a reduction in many medium-scale services and often are no longer equipped to serve their residents or the needs of surrounding villages.

Safeguard local services

As the country emerges from recession, but faces public spending cuts, the need to identify innovative ways to safeguard local services is paramount as is the need to deliver an agenda for change.  This includes:

• developing more detailed statistics that highlight disadvantage in seemingly more affluent countryside areas
• exploring the way services are run and lobbying for support to help build capacity in the voluntary and community sector
• finding more efficient ways to deliver core services such as ‘one-stop’ shops where a collection of services are delivered
• maintaining the importance of community leadership in influencing and delivering appropriate local services

Joint working with the Rural Services Network

AMT has been working with the Rural Services Network to explore rural services in the small town setting in further detail, in particular looking at how these towns can better link into the statutory frameworks that exist when developing rural services.

A discussion paper on the trends and policy issues in relation to service provision in market towns – for example, centralisation vs community empowerment and localism – has been written by Tracey Turner of Place Shaping Solutions Ltd.

• Download the Service Provision in Market Towns discussion paper {opens pdf}

Local performance framework
A separate report seeks to explain the local performance framework used by principal local authorities (County, District and Unitary Councils) and local strategic partnerships, and to review and compare the toolkits used by market town initiatives and other bodies seeking to analyse and improve sustainability in rural areas and market towns.

It also identifies useful resources available to Market Town Initiatives and makes recommendations to improve understanding and promote more supportive partnership working between Market Town Initiatives, Local Authorities and Local Strategic Partnerships.

• Download the New Performance Framework and Community Led Planning report {opens pdf}

Rural Services case studies
We have also developed a series of case studies as part of this work.

• Browse the Rural Services Case Studies

What next?

If you would like more information on this work, or feel you have something you would like to contribute, then please contact us as: Alison.Eardley@towns.org.uk

• Go to the Policy Resources library

With funding increasingly hard to come by, the opportunities presented by improved visibility and the visitor economy are significant.

AMT is committed to promoting the vitality and viability of rural towns and Hidden Britain helps these towns establish themselves as great visitor destinations so they can enjoy the social and economic rewards that rural tourism can create.

For this reason, the two organisations work in partnership, pooling experience, skills and expertise, to help support our towns.  Visit the Hidden Britain website for real-world examples of how the organisation can help towns and communities.

As an example of the way in which AMT and Hidden Britain have worked together please see the reports from recent ‘Marketing Your Community’ workshops we have delivered across the country:  Marketing Your Community- Increasing footfall to your town

What next?

• Read about more of AMT’s National Partners

On the one hand, budgets – and inevitably staff – are being cut, and greater efficiency savings sought.

On the other hand, the government is trying to encourage authorities to finalise their Core Strategies (or Local Plans) as swiftly as possible, and bringing in new initiatives such as Neighbourhood Planning and Right to Build Orders with the message that planning authorities need to support communities in all of this.

How are you going to achieve this? Have you got the capacity to support your communities if they decide to undertake a Neighbourhood Plan? How can you best support them? Are there any additional skills or support you might value?

We’ve got a wealth of experience in supporting the relationship between communities and authorities through our work in Community Led Planning. There are valuable lessons to be learnt and we would like to share these with you.

Localism Q&A

Here are some questions you might be asking.

Whether you have these questions or others, call us on 01284 756 567 for a quick chat or fill in our enquiry form here - we’d be happy to talk it through.

Our relationship with our local community has been compromised following some tricky planning applications. We’re keen to support the community in Neighbourhood Planning but are worried that they don’t trust us. What can we do?

This is not an unusual situation and is one that can be rectified. Experience has shown that in such cases, having an independent ‘facilitator’ can be really useful in terms of understanding the views of all concerned and supporting a mutually beneficial relationship based on shared goals.

How can AMT help?

AMT undertook a piece of work with ACRE to explore how local authorities can make the most of Community Led Planning (the forerunner to Neighbourhood Planning).

With the input from a range of authorities from across the country, a whole series of examples of best practice were collated.

You can view the report here: Making the most of Community Led Planning – a best practice guide for local authorities

If you are unsure of how to approach your community, please do contact us and we will be happy to support you.

How can we best support our local communities to take advantage of the opportunities offered through the Right to Challenge and Assets of Community Value?

The Localism Bill aims to strengthen the hand of communities in bidding for and running local services.

This raises some challenges in terms of how ready communities are to take up these opportunities.

Some councils are already setting up working groups to explore new approaches to commissioning, performance management and preparing for the new community rights.

Shropshire, for example, are establishing a contracting vehicle to enable small and medium sized community organisations to bid for contracts as well as exploring a collaborative approach with the private sector to tendering and increasing sustainability.

How can AMT help?

Supporting your community in developing their knowledge and capacity in order to take up the new rights is critical. AMT is working with a series of organisations to understand how this might happen in practice. Please contact us for more information.

A number of the towns in our area have produced local community plans. How can we make the most of these in our authority?

Having plans at the very local level is a valuable asset and one that you should aim to utilise. They can provide an understanding of the sort of community activism at play as well as generating intelligence about local needs and priorities across a geographical area.

This in turn can help you to work out which communities might want to take advantage of the new localism policies and for what purpose.

By making use of this data, you might reduce too the need for other, more expensive consultation activities.

How can AMT help?

AMT has experience of working with both communities and authorities and can help both parties to make the most of their resources to the best effect.

See all the services and guidance AMT can offer to help you tackle the localism challenge here

What next?

Whether you have these questions or others, call us on 01284 756 567 for a chat or fill in our enquiry form here – we’d be happy to talk it through.

You might want to think about planning issues at the very local level – maybe the Core Strategy at the planning authority leaves some areas to question.  You might want to consider the kinds of services available in your area and how these could be improved.

You’ve got an important role to play, and at a time when budgets are being squeezed. While it might be daunting at first, we can help to demystify the policy and work out, with you, where you want to focus your attention.

Localism Q&A

Here are some questions you might be asking.

Whether you have these questions or others, call us on 01284 756 567 for a quick chat or fill in our enquiry form here - we’d be happy to talk it through.

Are we too late to become a frontrunner – we’ve got a great idea for a project?

The government currently states that grants (of £20k per project) will be awarded on an approximately 4-monthly basis until the total value of eligible applications exceeds the remaining available funds, at which point grants will be awarded in respect of the applications that we received earliest.

The closing date for the latest round of applications is 5pm on Friday 4 November 2011.

It’s unclear as to whether there will be a final round this financial year, but it is likely that there will be funding in the next financial year once Neighbourhood Planning (for real!) starts.

How can AMT help?

Remember, if you do want to submit an application, it must be submitted via your planning authority. A useful first step would be to contact us and we can help you map out how to undertake your plan and the stages involved.

We’ve already got a Community Led Plan in our town – was it a waste of time now Neighbourhood Development Plans have come in?

The big message here is a resounding no! Community Led Plans are still as useful and relevant as they have ever been. The introduction of Neighbourhood Planning provides a perfect opportunity to review your existing plan and refresh it as necessary.

It’s worth noting that many of the aspirations in a Community Led Plan do not require the additional burden of creating a Neighbourhood Plan.

If you do decide that a Neighbourhood Plan would be useful for your town, you might want to consider this as a chapter of your existing, wider Community Led Plan. It is only the Neighbourhood Plan that would be subject to independent examination and ultimately a referendum.

How can AMT help?

AMT offers a service where we can come to your group and deliver a workshop to review your plan, how well your partnership is operating, whether any new skills would be useful and potential next steps to explore.

Our budget is already assigned but we’re hearing that we might need to take on additional services – help!

The government is keen to decentralise as much as possible to the lowest tier possible – to the town hall and beyond. This means that there are better opportunities for the responsibility and delivery services to be pushed to the local council.

This might include running allotments, delivering and maintaining public toilets, servicing parks and verges and local facilities. The Open Public Services White Paper presents these ideas in more detail.

The advantage to you, and those you represent, is that services can become much more locally accountable and local people can feel a greater ownership of them. The downside is of course cost and time.

How can AMT help?

If you are worried about what this policy means for you, then why not contact AMT to talk through the implications?

We can help you understand the policy including examples of other towns that have taken on specific services and how they managed it.

We can also advise you on how to involve your communities to find out what they would value most in terms of local service delivery – and indeed where local community organisations might exist who can take on delivery on your behalf.

See all the services and guidance AMT can offer to help you tackle the localism challenge here

What next?

Whether you have these questions or others, call us on 01284 756 567 for a chat or fill in our enquiry form here – we’d be happy to talk it through.