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A selection of images representing communities.
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Economic development and regeneration is vital to reversing the deep-rooted problems of our most deprived areas. But in too many communities, the role of the private sector can go unrecognised. Whether it is tapping new markets to increase profitability, developing under-used talent to meet skill shortages, creating jobs or bolstering local businesses, private sector engagement can bring benefits to both companies and the wider community.
Business involvement is essential to turn around deprived areas and help build sustainable communities. Consequently, Communities and Local Government are working on this agenda with partners across national, regional and local Government, businesses and stakeholders in the community and voluntary sectors.
Businesses can contribute to the regeneration of their local communities through involvement in their Local Strategic Partnership (LSP). Business people can bring vital skills to the LSP, such as business planning and expertise and knowledge of the local economy. This in turn can benefit businesses bottom line, through working to improve local skills, helping to reduce crime and improve the physical environment.
The LSP Delivery Toolkit (external link) provides advice, tips and practical examples for LSPs who want to engage the private sector more to develop and deliver neighbourhood renewal. The publication You can make a difference (external link) provides advice to business on action to tackle disadvantage.
A survey was conducted in June 2006 to assess the quality and extent of business engagement in Local Strategic Partnerships in England. The results of this were very encouraging. For example, over 90 per cent of LSPs surveyed said that the private sector was contributing to tackling worklessness.
While some LSPs have strong business participation, it is recognised that developing it can require a dedicated resource. As a result, a project was launched to fund brokers in nine areas to engage the private sector in the work of the LSPs in tackling deprivation and boosting local economies.
The programme came to an end in March 2005, with current brokers now being funded via a range of sources. The independent evaluation (external link) found that business can play a valuable role in turning around some of our poorest communities and brokers had been successful in engaging business with LSPs and attracting them to opportunities in neighbourhood renewal.
Brokers can:
The Partnership Academy is a Business in the Community initiative which provides networking and support to those involved in forging stronger partnerships between the private, public and voluntary and community sectors.
The current Business Broker network is supported by the Partnership Academy, and Communities and Local Government. The Academy offers advice to any LSP seeking to improve its engagement with the private sector. More information on the services that Partnership Academy offers can be found in their prospectus (external link).
The Under-served Markets project was launched in late 2002 to assess how best to promote investment in England's most deprived areas and stimulate retail-led regeneration. Retail investment in deprived areas can be commercially successful for the private sector and contribute to and support wider regeneration and renewal goals.
Retailers can open up new markets, while local communities gain new opportunities for private investment that improve levels of economic activity, increase access to products and services, increase employment and training opportunities, improve the quality of the built environment and attract additional investment to the community. Preliminary research findings (external link) were published in February 2005.
Pilots were taken forward in four areas, (Bradford, Lewisham, Oldham, and Waltham Forest), by partnership working between Business in the Community, Communities and Local Government, local authorities and commercial partners. An evaluation is studying the pilots and their longer-term impact, and is due to report in 2009. During 2007/08 the Department is also supporting wider dissemination aimed at sharing the learning from the project to the public and private sectors. A guide on maximising investment in deprived areas, Under-served Markets: Retail and Regeneration (external link), draws on lessons learnt from the project, and was published in October 2007.
