Blears - real help for communities in Barnsley

Published	26 January 2009

Communities Secretary Hazel Blears today begins a series of visits across the country to see first hand how local leaders are making use of devolved powers in responding to pressures facing their communities, explain what government is doing to provide real and practical support and find out how they can further help authorities to get on with the job.

Hazel Blears, joined by Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell, will visit Barnsley in South Yorkshire. In the town centre, and the communities of Wombwell and New Lodge they will meet with local councillors, parents, job seekers and business leaders and see how Barnsley is responding with practical measures to help people through the current downturn, prepare for the upturn and deliver on local priorities around employment, health and crime.

Hazel Blears said:

"The current downturn shows why devolution is so important. The fact is that different places will face very different challenges. We need local authorities with the confidence and the room for manoeuvre to sort them out.

"In recent years we've given councils unprecedented freedom. In Barnsley, I'm going to be listening and learning about how they've used that freedom to get people off the dole and into a job. In a downturn, Government is deeply concerned about new redundancies, but tackling long-term unemployment remains vital: the economy can't afford to carry passengers. I want to make sure we're making the most of the huge potential of communities - people coming together to give each other the right encouragement and incentives - to get the whole of Britain working."

Council Leader Stephen Houghton has been working on a radical review reporting to Government on the role that local councils can play in developing practical solutions to reduce worklessness drawing in part on the pioneering work going on in Barnsley. This includes: the development of problem solving workshops which bring all key players round the table to look at what can be done to make the town a better place to live and work and to generate innovative ideas and action to tackle a range of issues such as worklessness.

Ministers will meet with carers and parents at the state-of-the-art Kings Oak primary school and Surestart centre in Wombwell. Here local people can get advice on how to access training, education and work alongside child-care and family support. Ministers will also visit Barnsley Digital Media Centre which provides office space and resources for local businesses who might be starting up in the area. Finally, the Secretaries of State will visit New Lodge Estate where they will hear from residents and local service providers who have been at the heart of designing and planning neighbourhood policing schemes, housing management services and the Stronger Neighbourhoods Initiative which are helping to turn around their communities and improve the quality of local life.

It is this kind of innovation and engagement that the Communities Secretary is keen to encourage. In the coming weeks she will visit Essex and authorities in the North East to see what is happening there and take the evidence of these visits back to Cabinet colleagues and the National Economic Council. Ministers will consider how good practice can best be shared and what further support and devolution might be needed whether that be around pooling of budgets, local councils offering loans to small businesses, new approaches to regeneration or unique approaches to making more efficiency savings.

James Purnell said:

"The downturn makes it even more important that we continue to reform the welfare system, with more support matched by higher expectations, so that no-one is written off. If the jobs market is tougher, we must do more, not less, to help people prepare for a return to work.

"The government has committed £1.3bn to ensure people get the help they need from the moment they lose their job. And a further £500m will be made available for those who have been on JSA for six months, to help prevent the long term unemployment that scarred so many lives and communities in previous recessions. Cities and local government can also make a major contribution through fostering economic development and supporting people back in to work - through initiatives such as the Working Neighbourhoods Fund."

Different parts of the country are facing different challenges and it is local leaders who are best placed to understand what their communities need. Local leaders are playing a crucial role giving people practical help, sound advice and strong leadership. The government has freed up authorities to have the confidence and freedoms to get on with the job of delivering for local people and ministers will be keen to see how the authority is using the new powers and freedoms - including under the new Local Area Agreement signed last June - to best effect.

A key part of that is making sure that local people are being consulted and involved in making the decisions that will affect their everyday lives. Giving people a fair say is vital in ensuring public services are meeting people's needs. At the same time ministers are also keen to make clear that in a fair society people must play their part as well, work if they can, and if they can't to make the most of the help and support they are offered. These fair rules will help build strong communities across the country.

Notes to editors

This press notice applies to England only

1. In June last year Barnsley, in close consultation with local people and ministers signed a three year - a legal contract between central government, local government and its partners to deliver improvements across the local economy, in education, health, crime reduction and the provision of community facilities. The powers and freedoms associated with the LAA are part of the Governments wider commitment to devolving more power to local authorities and their partners. Devolution means less central control from government, it ensures local authorities have a bigger say over how money is spent locally is freed from bureaucracy and crucially gives them the confidence and freedom to get on with the job of delivering for local people.