Job advertisements reveal much about the nature of New Labour's neighbourhood renewal programme and other regeneration initiatives. Of all the regeneration posts advertised in one week in Guardian Society, two specialist magazines and a Scottish daily newspaper, 62% were placed by local government.
Urban regeneration is dominated by local authorities as they seek managers to run New Deal for Communities schemes, local strategic partnerships and social inclusion partnerships, along with staff to promote economic and community development, safety, health, sport and so on. No doubt local authority regeneration will provide useful outcomes in terms of environmental upgrading, leisure centres and day care. But there are three drawbacks.
One is that regeneration becomes locked into, and is slowed down by, council bureaucracy. A second is that councils continue the old, top-down approach that directs policies from outside deprived areas. Oxfam concluded in its study of neighbourhood renewal that "current partnerships in urban regeneration are often council- led with minimal or tokenistic resident involvement". This was well illustrated at a recent conference in Easterhouse, Glasgow, on "schools and social inclusion" - not one Easterhouse resident was present.
Tony Blair, writing in the social exclusion unit's National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal, said the aim was to "revive and empower" the community. "Unless the community is fully engaged in shaping and delivering regeneration, even the best plans on paper will fail to deliver in practice." This meant, he said, "developing ways to put deprived communities in the driving seat".
Adding together regeneration job advertisements from local authorities with jobs in other public bodies, large voluntary societies and private companies, I found that 95% were from outside deprived neighbourhoods and only 5% from locally-run community groups. This is less community empowerment and more community sham.
Funding is not just about jobs, but the picture fits the experience of many residents.
I am associated with a community project in Easterhouse. Before New Labour's victory in 1997, the project received not a penny from statutory sources towards staff salaries. Today, it still gets nothing. Last year, the government's active community unit proposed that, in selected areas, community groups might get grants of between £50 and £5,000. This is less than a local authority spends on advertisements for top staff.
The irony is that, for all its radical words, New Labour has refused to fund properly the very projects that have the most experience in supporting disadvantaged families, in diverting youngsters from crime and in using residents as staff and volunteers.
It appears that, with a few exceptions, the 3,000 disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Britain are no more empowered now than in 1997. I am not suggesting that local authorities should not be funded for regeneration. I am proposing that similar funding should go directly to local groups. In a few years, achievements could be compared.
Bob Holman is a volunteer community worker in Easterhouse, Glasgow.
