The
contents of this page are prepared by the New Deal executive
team.
Local
control is a welcome boost
A
really significant development over the last few weeks has
been the news that the Government Office has delegated financial
decision-making on expenditure of up to £250,000 to
the Partnership Board.
Until
now, projects approved by the Partnership Board had to be
rubber stamped by the Government Office. This inevitably led
to delays, but the award of ‘delegated powers’
means that decisions made by the Board can now be implemented
much more quickly – giving more local control over the
way in which the £52 million grant will be spent in
the area over the next eight years.
The
Government Office’s decision is a real vote of confidence
in the work of the Partnership Board, the New Deal team and
the many individuals and organisations in the area who have
demonstrated clearly that New Deal can be a success in Burngreave.
We can now speed up the decision-making process for funding,
so that money can be released quickly to support the many
excellent local regeneration projects which are currently
being developed.
The Government Office decision also means we can now start
building on this by establishing New Deal as an independent
body that can employ its staff and manage its own resources. The
New Deal constitution will be based around the key principles
of community ownership of New Deal through open democratic
elections; the management of resources to support and grow
organisations in the community; and a commitment to the
community deciding on what happens to New Deal resources as
the funding comes to an end in eight years time.
This
means that local involvement will be even more important than
ever – and the next round of New Deal elections in March
next year provide a real opportunity for more people to take
an active part in the future of the area. Ten community representatives
will be elected and nomination forms will be out in early
January, so start thinking now about who you’d like
to see representing you on the new Partnership Board.
Rose
Ardron (Chair, BNDfC Partnership Board) |
