Chapter 4: Strong and secure communities
The 2002 Spending Review underlines the Government's commitment to improving the quality of life in both urban and rural areas. The Government's aim is to promote cohesive communities, with strong local services, where crime is tackled effectively. The National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal aims to ensure that within the next 10 to 20 years, nobody is seriously disadvantaged by where they live. In this Review, the Government:
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Tackiling crime and the causes of crime
4.1 The Government is committed to both tackling the incidence of crime, by increasing the resources and performance of the police and the rest of the Criminal Justice System, and addressing the causes of crime through investment and reform in education, health, regeneration and Welfare to Work. Low levels of crime contribute greatly to the strength and security of communities. Crime has fallen overall by 22 per cent since 1997, and the Government is committed to achieving further progress.
4.2 The Government's aim is to reduce crime and the fear of crime. The new PSAs set objectives to improve performance overall, including by reducing the gap between the highest crime Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership areas and the best comparable areas; and reduce:
- vehicle crime by 30 per cent from 1998-99 to 2004;
- domestic burglary by 25 per cent from 1998-99 to 2005;
- robbery in the ten Street Crime Initiative areas by 14 per cent from 1999-00
to 2005;and maintain that level.
4.3 In support of the Government's determination to tackle crime and strengthen communities, spending on the police will increase by around £1.5 billion a year by 2005-06 compared to 2002-03. New resources will deliver better rewards for key front-line posts and more flexible deployment, and there will be more effective delegation of decisions about how funds are used on the front line (the Basic Command Unit). Additional investment will underpin the programme of reform of the police already underway, aimed at driving up performance in forces and Basic Command Units. The Government will improve the performance of all police forces, and significantly reduce the performance gap between the best and worst performing forces; and significantly increase the proportion of time spent on front line duties.
4.4 The Police Reform Bill is seeking new powers to require police authorities to take remedial action when forces do not perform, and the Police Standards Unit will publish comparisons between police forces' performance linking resources to performance against key outcomes, including reducing crime and bringing offenders to justice. There will be new links between funding and performance for police Basic Command Units. And local police commanders and local Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships will be held accountable to local residents. They will make clear information available to households on their performance each year.
4.5 Tackling crime, including reducing re-offending, requires the effective operation of all elements of the Criminal Justice System (CJS), encompassing the police, Crown Prosecution Service, criminal courts, prison and probation services. Following the 2002 Spending Review a CJS IT Joint Budget will be established to promote closer working and streamlined case management. There will also be a modernised new CJS inspection regime.
4.6 The Government is committed to effective sanctions, which deter other offenders and reduce reoffending. The Government will reform sentences and sentence delivery and ensure that there is clear information available to, and partnership with, sentencers on what sentences - custodial and non-custodial - work for what crimes. Offenders will be better equipped to lead law abiding lives including rehabilitation in prison and the community, and enabling prisoners to access mainstream services so that the causes of their offending are addressed and re-offending is reduced. Prisons' performance will be benchmarked over a seven-year period, with contracting-out if they fail.
4.7 Wider social and environmental programmes, including interventions to tackle child poverty and deprivation, are also key to delivering sustained reductions in crime. The Spending Review will tackle the causes of crime, including through improved services to treat children and young people with mental health problems; an extension of multi-disciplinary Behaviour and Education Support Teams to support schools and a continued commitment to reduce truancy; and substantial increases in funding for the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund; and new resources to fund additional support for parents and families in partnership with the voluntary and community sectors. There are also new resources to secure steps towards doubling the number of drug addicts in treatment, and reducing drug-related crime.
A new commitment to localism
Devolution and delegation
4.8 The Government is committed to shifting more responsibility for policy delivery away from central departments, and to allowing local flexibility in policy implementation. Devolution and delegation to more local levels means that those with the best knowledge of what is needed have the freedom to implement the most appropriate policies for their area, leaving scope for creative and innovative solutions that are focused on local needs.
4.9 The Government has already taken important steps towards greater devolution and delegation to more local levels, for example:
- at regional level through giving the Regional Development Agencies freedom to allocate their Single Pot according to their own priorities to meet their agreed targets;
- at local level through giving local authorities freedoms and flexibilities in return for the delivery of high quality services; and
- at the front-line through funding being paid direct to schools, health Primary Care Trusts and Police Basic Command Units.
Vision for Local Government
4.10 The Government is committed to a vision of local democracy with effective local authorities providing quality public services and acting as effective leaders of the communities they serve.
4.11 The government's vision is set out in the Local Government White Paper, Strong Local Leadership - Quality Public Services.1 The key elements are:
- a national framework of standards and accountability for the delivery of high quality services and effective community leadership;
- devolution to local councils to encourage diversity and creativity, giving them the freedom they need to respond to and meet their communities' needs;
- building local capacity in recognition of the need for flexibility at the front line to exploit the opportunities that are being opened up and deliver improved services and effective leadership; and
- more choice for customers, with access to an alternative supplier where performance falls below acceptable standards.
4.12 The 2002 Spending Review takes forward the Government's vision for local government by providing an average increase in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's local government programme of 4.2 per cent a year above inflation over the three years to 2005-6. It also provides an 10.7 per cent annual average real increase in local authority investment through capital support and PFI from 2002-3 to 2005-6.
4.13 As well as providing local authorities with a 3.9 per cent a year increase in revenue in real terms over three years to 2005-06, the details of which are in Chapter 9, the 2002 Spending Review creates over three years a new £135 million fund to support capacity building and intervention in failing authorities. This money will help ensure the right tools are available to councils to enable them to raise their performance. The Review also provides continued support to help authorities use new technologies to improve services and deliver them in more customer-focused and cost effective ways.
Local Public Service Agreements
4.14 To ensure this investment delivers the improved services upon which local people rely, the Government has decided to launch a second round of Local Public Service Agreements. These three-year agreements were developed in the 2000 Spending Review in close partnership with the Local Government Association and offer councils freedoms and flexibilities in exchange for commitment to stretching targets, with reward money if targets are met.
4.15 Local PSAs are currently being rolled out to county councils and unitary authorities with 57 agreements already signed. The first round will be completed in 2003 and the new round will start in 2004. The Government will work with local government to explore how the concept of Local PSAs can be developed to be even more effective in giving councils the freedom to deliver higher quality services.
4.16 To ensure proper co-ordination between central government departments and local government in areas where they share responsibility for outcomes, central and local government have developed a set of Shared Priorities and these have informed the new National Public Service Agreement (PSA) for local government. The new PSA - which was developed with the involvement of the Local Government Association - brings together those targets in departmental PSAs where local authorities and their partners are critical to delivering service improvements. It is a further example of the new, more effective partnership between central and local government.
Comprehensive Performance Assessment
4.17 To help local people assess how their authority is performing against these shared objectives, the government is introducing a Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) process as outlined in the White Paper. These assessments will for the first time bring together in an understandable way all the available information about how a council is performing. As well as improving accountability to local people, the assessments will shape the government's relationship with the council. High performing councils will be given the extra freedoms and flexibilities they have demonstrated they deserve. They will also face a reduction in the burden of inspection. Authorities that are performing less well will be required to draw up an action plan for improvement, while failing authorities that are unable or unwilling to tackle their problems will face intervention.
4.18 As well as promoting transparency and accountability about local authority performance, the government is committed to empowering councils to enable them to deliver for their communities. It wants to see local authorities innovate and deliver for local people and is keen to reduce the burden of controls councils face and to give them greater autonomy about how they raise and spend their resources. The Government is taking action to make this vision a reality as set out in Box 4.1.
Box 4.1 Flexibilities and freedom for local authorities | |||
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Ring-fenced grants
4.19 The Government recognises that local authorities must have the freedom to address local priorities, and in the course of the 2002 Spending Review process, has given careful consideration to the issue of ring-fenced grants, financial support given to local authorities which has to be used in a specified way. The Government recognises that excessive ring-fencing is inefficient and reduces the scope for local choices. However, some of the existing ring-fenced funds are supported by local authorities as a means of ensuring that the necessary funds are available to meet a specific obligation or need. Other ring-fenced funds have played (and continue to play) a key role in supporting reform and delivering improvement in priority areas. The debate on ring-fencing, therefore, needs to recognise that ring-fencing can serve important and positive purposes.
4.20 However, the Government is determined to minimise the overall level of ring-fencing to promote local flexibility. It remains committed to testing any new ring-fenced grants against the criteria set out in the Local Government White Paper and will end existing ring-fenced grants where they are no longer necessary. The process of examining individual ring-fenced grants will take place in autumn 2002 as departments make final decisions within their own programmes about the balance between grants to local authorities and other priorities. However, as an indication of the Government's commitment to the agenda of minimising ring-fenced funding, it has been decided as part of the 2002 Spending Review that by 2005-06 around £2 billion of existing ring-fenced grants will be transferred into Standard Spending Assessments. This is made up of well over £1 billion of Department for Education and Skills (DfES) grants and £0.8 billion of Department of Health (DH) grants.
The voluntary and community sectors
Empowering local government and cutting bureaucracy
4.21 The voluntary and community sector, as well as social enterprises, have a key role to play in fostering stronger communities. Not only do these organisations often grow out of a determination to provide high quality support to particular groups, they are often uniquely well placed to enable individuals to actively participate in their local communities.
4.22 The significant value added that the voluntary and community sector can bring to service delivery includes:
- greater understanding of specific client groups;
- greater ability to reach marginalised groups, especially in deprived areas;
- greater innovation and flexibility in the design and delivery of services; and
- creation of social capital through the pro-active engagement of local communities.
4.23 Building on the Deakin Commission Report and the Compact on Relations between the Government and the Voluntary and Community Sector in England of 1998, the cross-cutting review of the role of the voluntary sector in public services conducted in the 2002 Spending Review (see Chapter 30) has produced a multi-faceted strategy to increase opportunities for partnerships at central and local levels. The Government will continue to draw on the experience and expertise of the sector, and identify and eliminate barriers to fuller participation by the sector in providing services, and will give special attention to strengthening the voluntary sector in disadvantaged and rural areas.
Better, safer neighbourhoods
4.24 The Government is committed to tackling the gap between the quality of life that most people experience and that experienced by those living in deprived areas. Deprived areas are characterised by high levels of poverty, crime, ill health and unemployment and poor local environments and transport provision. The Government's National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal aims to ensure that within the next 10-20 years, nobody is seriously disadvantaged by where they live. The 2002 Spending Review provides the resources for regeneration and renewal at regional, local and neighbourhood level to take further steps towards this goal.
Neighbourhood renewal and regeneration
4.25 The 2002 Spending Review strengthens and takes forward the Government's National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal. This strategy gives clear responsibility for tackling deprivation to core public services like schools, health, environmental services and the police. The 2000 Spending Review therefore set specific PSA targets ('floor targets') for key government departments aimed at levering up the performance of public services in deprived areas towards the national average. The 2000 Spending Review also committed the Government to reviewing the funding formulae used by departments to ensure that more resources were devoted to deprived areas (see Chapter 23).
4.26 In this Spending Review, the floor targets are being rolled forward and strengthened, and some new targets have been added, including individual school-level floor targets for secondary schools. This puts in place deprivation-related targets for education, employment, crime, health, housing, enterprise, road accidents and regional growth. DEFRA will examine the extent and nature of rural deprivation to establish how floor targets can be delivered.
Box 4.2: PSA floor targets |
Full details of the floor targets can be found in the Public Service Agreements of the relevant departments. The 2002 Spending Review has delivered substantial improvements to the set of floor targets, for example-
In addition, a range of other new PSA targets will also have significant impacts on disadvantaged communities, for example the targets to:
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4.27 This Spending Review also further increases the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund by £125 million to £525 million by 2005-06.
4.28 Key challenges lie ahead during the Spending Review period in making progress in narrowing the gap between outcomes for those living in the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods and the rest of the country. This work will be overseen by the Deputy Prime Minister, drawing together his Office's responsibilities for regions, local government, neighbourhoods and tackling social exclusion. Departments' core funding needs to play its part in improving outcomes in the poorest communities, meaning that an increased proportion of main budgets needs to be allocated to the most deprived neighbourhoods. As with all PSA targets, Departments will be held accountable for how they deliver on the floor targets for disadvantaged areas and groups. This refocusing of main budgets on deprived neighbourhoods needs to be accompanied by rationalisation of existing area based initiatives as far as possible, and by effective local joint working between area based programmes that remain. At a local level, the key challenge for Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) is to become effective in driving forward local neighbourhood renewal strategies, in order to meet the floor targets and deliver real improvements in outcomes in the area. As well as the role played by local communities, key to the success of LSPs will be the active participation and cooperation of all local deliverers of public services.
Improving local environments
4.29 The safety and cleanliness of the local environment are of key importance to people wherever they live. As problems like street crime, anti-social behaviour and litter are often more acute in deprived areas, tackling them also makes an important contribution to neighbourhood renewal. Chapter 31 describes how the Spending Review has taken forward the Government's policies on improving local environments.
4.30 A number of large mainstream budgets impact on the safety and cleanliness of local neighbourhoods. These funding streams will deliver additional investment over the period covered by the 2002 Spending Review. Local transport capital expenditure - which includes funding for home zones, cycling and local safety schemes - is set to double in real terms from 2001 to 2011 as part of the Ten-Year Transport Plan. Funding for police and local authority delivered services is also being increased in real terms.
4.31 A review of the powers and responsibilities that regulate the quality of public spaces and the local environment has also been announced. This review will focus on primary and secondary legislation and statutory guidance, covering issues such as litter, graffiti, fly-tipping, derelict land and highways maintenance (see chapter 24).
4.32 To drive up performance, improvements to the way that the quality of the local environment is measured are also being developed. A new system for measuring street and local environmental cleanliness will be piloted in the autumn, for consideration as a statutory Best Value performance indicator in due course.
Rural communities
Rural areas
4.33 The Spending Review has examined the impact of Government policy on rural areas and identified steps to raise the quality of rural life, reflecting the Rural White Paper principle that national policies should deliver equitably in rural areas.
Improving rural productivity
4.34 To secure thriving rural businesses and raise employment the Government will:
- improve the quality and availability of advice and support to rural businesses;
- improve rural work force skills, particularly in disadvantaged areas;
- widen the availability of rural information and communication technology (ICT), including broadband, through advice and more effective public sector procurement;
- extend the local availability of information on the job market; and
- encourage enterprise amongst disadvantaged rural communities by developing community enterprise and community development finance.
4.35 The Government will invest an additional £200 million by 2005-06 compared to 2002-03 for sustainable farming - a total of £500m for sustainable farming over three years - to deliver the core recommendations of the Curry Report.
4.36 Despite improvements in public transport, small or remote rural communities often experience difficulty in accessing services. The Government will maintain support for rural transport and review how this can secure transport that is more responsive to rural needs. The new PSA target (see Box 4.3) will stimulate efforts to improve the accessibility of key public services, including transport, health, childcare, further education and benefits. The Government will also:
- sustain a rural Post Office network and introduce the universal banking service. The Post Office will explore whether their range of services can be further developed;
- help small service providers to improve entrepreneurial and marketing skills and encourage community enterprise.
4.37 The provision of flexible and effective community support services in rural areas is particularly reliant on the contribution of the rural voluntary sector. The Government has increased resources to strengthen its capacity.
4.38 In education, in addition to national commitments to raise attainment and skills, rural communities will particularly benefit from:
- support for 'extended schools' and Curriculum Online;
- Educational Maintenance Allowances, which can help overcome a key barrier to post-16 education, namely the cost of transport; and
- work to establish networks of providers of further education which have greater flexibility to meet local needs.
4.39 The Government's spending plans for the NHS which were announced in the Budget will ensure that improved health services are delivered to rural communities services through NHS Direct (e.g. home delivery of prescriptions), improved access to primary care outside normal working hours, more multi-purpose GP premises and greater use of ICT links to hospitals.
4.40 The availability of affordable housing is particularly important in rural areas. The Government will ensure the resourcing of social and affordable housing in rural communities. The Government will be establishing new regional bodies to handle housing investment and planning decisions, and relate these properly to regional economic strategy and infrastructure issues. This will help to ensure that strategies reflect rural housing needs and that affordable housing is provided where the beneficiaries will have access to services and jobs (see also Chapter 9).
Sustainable development
4.41 The aim of the Government's Sustainable development Strategy is ensuring a better quality of life for everyone, now and for generations to come. The 2002 Spending Review promotesbeen a means of promoting the Government's sustainable development objectives, developing evidence-based policies that will deliver social, environmental, and economic progress at home and overseas. Guidance to departments on sustainable development was issued and made public in November 2001. Each department produced a Sustainable Development Report as part of the Review, identifying the social, economic and environmental implications of its policy priorities, and furnishing an important part of the evidence base for the Review. All public spending decisions have an impact on sustainable development, and the full range of costs and benefits were taken into account in this Review.
4.42 Through the 2002 Spending Review the Government has taken full account of the principles set out in the UK sustainable development strategy A Better Quality of Life. Government action alone cannot deliver sustainable development, but it has an important role to play, setting the overall agenda, establishing goals and targets and intervening directly where appropriate. Recognising this, a number of departments highlight sustainable development in their strategic Aims and Objectives (which provide the framework for PSAs).
Box 4.3: PSA targets linked to indicators of sustainable development | |
| Headline Indicators | PSA Targets |
| Economic output (GDP) | Demonstrate progress by 2004 on the Government's long-term objective of raising the trend rate of growth over the economic cycle from the current estimate of 2.5 per cent and make further progress towards increasing trend growth up to 2006 (HM Treasury) |
| Investment (per cent of GDP) | Deliver measurable improvement in the business performance of Trade Partners UK's of British Trade International customers; and maintain the UK as the prime location in the EU for foreign direct investment (FCO and DTI)) |
| Employment | Demonstrate progress by spring 2006 on increasing the employment rate and reducing the unemployment rate over the economic cycle. (HMT and DWP) |
| Education (qualifications at 19) | Raise standards in schools and colleges so that: the proportion of those aged 16 who get qualifications equivalent to 5 GCSEs at Grade A* to C rises by 2 percentage points a year; and in all schools at least 20 per cent of pupils achieve this standard by 2004, rising to 25 per cent by 2006 (DfES) |
| Health (expected years of healthy life) | Reduce substantially the mortality rates from the major killer diseases by 2010: from heart disease by at least 40 per cent in people under 75; from cancer by at least 20 per cent in people under 75 (DoH) |
| Housing (unfit/non-decent homes) | By 2010 bring all social housing into decent condition with most of this improvement taking place in deprived areas, and increase the proportion of private housing in decent condition occupied by vulnerable groupss. (ODPM) |
| Crime: (vehicle, burglary, robbery) | Reduce crime and the fear of crime; improve performance overall, including by reducing the gap between the highest crime Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership areas and the best comparable areas; and reduce:
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| Climate change (greenhouse gases | Improve the environment and the sustainable use of natural resources, including through the use of energy saving technologies, to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 12.5 per cent from 1990 levels and moving towards a 20 per cent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2010. (DTI and DEFRA) |
| Air quality (days of air pollution) | Improve air quality by meeting our National Air Quality Strategy objectives for carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen dioxide, particles, sulphur dioxide, benzene and 1-3 butadiene. (DEFRA and DfT) |
| Road traffic | Reduce congestion on the inter-urban trunk road network and in large urban areas in England below 2000 levels by 2010. DfT) |
| River water quality | The Government does not have a specific PSA target to measure river water quality. However, monitored river lengths have a baseline assessment called the River Quality Objectives (RQO), which is the level of water quality that a river should achieve in order to be suitable for its agreed uses. The government set a target to increase River Quality Objectives compliance in England and Wales from 82 per cent in 1997 to at least 91 per cent in 2005 (by 2000, RQO compliance had increased to 90.4 per cent).(DEFRA) |
| Wildlife (farmland birds) | Care for our natural heritage, make the countryside attractive and enjoyable for all and preserve biological diversity by: reversing the long-term decline in the number of farmland birds by 2020, as measured annually against underlying trends. (DEFRA) |
| Land use (Percentage of new homes on Brownfield sites) | Achieve a more sustainable balance between housing availability and the demand for housing in all English regions, while protecting the countryside and the sustainability of existing towns and cities through specific measures to be set out in the Service Delivery Agreement. (ODPM) |
| Waste (more waste reduction) | Enable 25 per cent of household waste to be recycled or composted by 2005-6. (DEFRA) |
4.43 The Government uses fifteen headline indicators to identify the main factors in delivering and sustaining a better quality of life. Departmental priorities directly and indirectly take account of these indicators, and Box 4.3 shows how the PSA targets agreed with departments in the 2002 Spending Review relate to them. Many of the policies set out in this review will contribute to improvements in the indicators over time. The Government is committed to taking action to promote sustainable development by adjusting its policies, and working with others where they have a role to play, to ensure that performance against these indicators moves in the right direction over time.
4.44 The 2002 Spending Review also recognises the UK's vital role in contributing to sustainable development across the globe. The Department for International Development has primary responsibility for this work, but other departments also contribute to boosting quality of life overseas. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport will develop a sustainable tourism strategy, looking for the first time at the sustainable development implications of both domestic and international tourism.
4.45 The countryside is an asset, and one that generates value through tourism. To protect it, rural conservation programmes will be expanded. Access to the countryside will be extended with extra funding to complete new access and rights of way improvements under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000.