We work within a broader policy context which recognizes that community development is very much a part of government thinking across a range of policy areas, for example:
Community Call for Action: encourages members of the public who are dissatisfied with service provision to ask their local councillor to call for action from the local authority and its partners.
Community Empowerment Action Plan – launched by Hazel Blears and supporting initiatives like Participatory Budgeting and transfer of community assets.
Duty to involve users of health services – detailed in the National Health Service Act 2006, each relevant English body must make arrangements to secure that users of health services, whether directly or through representatives, are involved in the planning, development, proposals for changes and decisions affecting those services.
Local Area Agreements: three-year agreements between a local area and central government. The LAA describes how local priorities will be met by delivering local solutions and implementing the vision of the Sustainable Community Strategy. All local area agreements (LAAs) are being renegotiated and refreshed and should be in place by June 2008
Local Involvement Networks: promote and support the involvement of people in the commissioning, provision and scrutiny of local care services; in addition, obtain the views of people about their needs for, and their experiences of, local care services – as part of the Local Government & Public Involvement in Health Act, 2007.
National Empowerment Partnership (previously Every Voice Counts): a national partnership of interested parties set up to improve the quality, co-ordination and evidence of empowerment across England, coordinated by CDF.
Strong and Prosperous Communities (Local Government White Paper): gives local people and local communities more influence and power to improve their lives, requires local authorities.. to secure the participation of local citizens and communities
Take Part National Learning Framework: (formerly ALAC – Active learning for Active Citizenship) offerers principles, case studies, good practice advice and guidance on delivering active citizenship learning based on community development values and principles
Capacity Builders – supports the Third Sector to be able to access high quality support that meets their needs, when they need it, and aims to strengthen the sector, increasing its ability to create a better quality of life for individuals and communities.
Quirk Review: promotes community management and ownership of public assets
Local Compacts: promotes agreements between Councils and local voluntary sector organisations. Empowers citizens through third sector organisations to improve services at a local level
Partnership in public services: an action plan for third sector involvement: the Government plan to improve the commissioning process for service providers and public funders, ensure that contracting and procurement processes are fair and proportionate, support innovation in the third sector and help the third sector to hold services to account
Every Action Counts: is about empowering, engaging and enabling communities across England to work together and have a bigger impact for a better future
Respect: central government, local agencies, local communities and citizens working together to build a society in which we can respect one another and communities can live in peace together
Race Equality: promotes the duties of the Race Relations Amendment Act (2000): recognising that discrimination exists, promoting equality of opportunity and promoting good relations between groups
Gender Equality Duty: promotes duties to promote Gender Equality 30 years after the introduction of the Sex Discrimination Act. The GED will bring about real change in the culture of organisations as the onus will be on organisations to promote equality, rather than on individuals to highlight discrimination.
The Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR): a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB), established by the Equality Act (2006) brings together the work of the three existing Commissions, the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE), the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) and the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC). Covering England, Scotland and Wales, it will also promote awareness and understanding of human rights and encourage good practice by public authorities in meeting their Human Rights Act obligations.
Government Equalities Office: to strengthen the Government's ability to deliver across the entire equalities agenda, a new Government Equalities Office has been established and the Women and Equality Unit has transferred to the new Office together with a number of staff working on equality policy. It will take on responsibility for the Government’s overall strategy and priorities on equality issues. This will include the Discrimination Law Review, the Single Equality Bill, and the Equality PSA; sponsorship of the Equality and Human Rights Commission; and the response to Trevor Phillips’ Equalities Review. It will also be responsible for policy on gender equality, including the Minister for Women's priorities, and sexual orientation and for integrating work on race and religion or belief equality into the overall equality framework.