Tag Archives: Unlocking Local Capacity

Two TV shows display the challenges to community integration

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By Ewan King, OPM director

Ewan KingTwo TV programmes shown recently brought into sharp focus the enormous challenges facing polarised and segregated communities in England: Make Bradford British and Proud and Prejudiced. The first looks at cultural and ethnic differences in Bradford while the second looks at extremism in Luton. Both highlight some of the entrenched divisions that exist in some urban areas.

Proud and Prejudiced, which explored the motivations and rationales of two organisations on the extremes of British Politics – the English Defence League (EDL) and Muslims Against Crusades (MAC) – was perhaps the most disconcerting of the two, showing how dangerous extremists can be when they gain sufficient support and traction in the media. Both groups, while ostensibly holding very different memberships and ideologies, shared a visceral hatred for other communities and a deep enmity for mainstream politics. Continue reading →

Unlocking local capacity – local authority entrepreneurship

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By Hywel Lloyd, OPM senior fellow.

Hywel LloydThis is the latest in a series of posts in anticipation of new research from OPM about what local government can do to unlock local capacity. To find out more about the free evening seminar on Tuesday 21 February where the research will be launched, click here.

Across the country local authorities are engaged in massive change. On one hand they are seeking to balance budgets in light of significant changes to their central grant; on the other, they are looking to ‘unlock’ capacity that exists in their locality. This local capacity can take many forms. Continue reading →

A simple way to support migrant and refugee community organisations

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By Mohini Khanna, OPM researcher.

Mohini KhannaIn my spare time, I volunteer with the Migrant and Refugee Communities Forum (MRCF), based in west London. Set up almost 20 years ago, MRCF is a ‘user-led, community forum working to promote the rights of migrants and refugees in London’. One aspect of its work is to act as an umbrella organisation; as such it has a membership of over 40 migrant and refugee community organisations. Continue reading →

Putting public assets back in community hands

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By Robin Clarke, OPM fellow.

Robin ClarkeThis is the latest in a series of posts in anticipation of new research from OPM about what local government can do to unlock local capacity. To find out more about the free evening seminar on Tuesday 21 February where the research will be launched, click here.

Reading the news this week about the Circle Partnership’s takeover of Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Cambridgeshire it’s understandable that people might conclude that where a service is struggling the only viable alternative to public sector management is a solution involving significant private sector input. But in some cases community ownership can be the best answer.

Take the Battersea Arts Centre, for instance. A little while ago I was sitting there helping to facilitate an event about the future of health services in South West London. The venue had a ‘shabby chic’ feel to it and a cat (Pluto – on the staff list as Head of Security, Sleeping and Prowling) who strutted about checking everyone out. But I wondered if I was the only person at the event who was aware of the great transformation that had taken place there?

The Battersea Arts Centre is a shining example of how local people can take over the management of a public asset and not only save a service from possible closure, but also improve it. The building has been threatened with closure many times in its long history, but finally it seems to have found a sustainable future. Since taking over the asset the Centre has broadened its range of projects and seen an increasing number of visitors. Continue reading →

What can ‘the beautiful game’ teach us about how to unlock local capacity?

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By Sarah McDonnell, OPM senior researcher, with an introduction from Phil Copestake, OPM principal.

Sarah McDonnellAt OPM we know that whatever councillors and officers in local government feel about ‘open public services’ and ‘the big society’, few disagree that with much less money available, local authorities must find a way of unlocking the energy and capacity of local people. Each council is tackling this in a different way.

On Tuesday 21st February we’ll be launching a report based on brand new research with councils across England. The report will give an in-depth, wide-ranging picture of the practical ways in which local authorities are going about the difficult but vital task of unlocking local capacity.

We’ve got a fantastic panel of speakers at the launch event, including the Mayor of Newham Robin Wales, Stuart Etherington from NCVO, the leader of Oxfordshire County Council Keith Mitchell, and Matthew Gott, a senior director from complex families pioneers Swindon. The seminar will be in the early evening, in Central London, and is free, but places are strictly limited. If you’re interested in coming then please email seminars@opm.co.uk.

In the run-up to the 21st February there will be lots of posts on this blog offering different perspectives on how best to unlock local capacity, from the point of view of councils, residents and communities themselves, and local voluntary groups. To kick things off (the first of many puns: you have been warned) we have OPM’s Sarah McDonnell asking: what can local councillors and officers learn from the leadership strategies of managers from the world of… Premier League football! Continue reading →