We’re half way through the lessons from the January 2012 evaluation of Burngreave New Deal for Communities. So far I’ve covered:
So, here is the next lesson learned, place related outcomes:
‘in common with other NDC partnerships BNDfC achieved more in the way of observable change in place related outcomes – environment, crime and community. This is perhaps to be expected as interventions in these outcomes are likely to effect larger numbers of people than, say, projects which target those with specific health problems or skills needs. Nevertheless, evidence from BNDfC does suggest that investment in improving the physical fabric of communities, alongside projects which enhance community safety and provide diversion and engagement for young people can contribute significantly to reductions in crime, and to improvements in area satisfaction’
Credit where credit is due, this was a significant success. At the time Burngreave New Deal was third best out of 39 New Deals in the country. Place related outcomes had the strongest performance with some other revenue focused activities, eg education.
You wouldn’t have known it if you’d read the local press during the final years of the programme. Bad publicity coupled with the collapse of the asset based legacy and the failure of community development, gave Burngreave New Deal a more negative image locally than it deserved. Overall my verdict is negative but the press coverage at the time was unfair and never touched on any of the real weaknesses in the programme.
Why No Evaluation?
However, the change of national government since 2010 means New Deal is ancient history. There will be no more evaluations because the politicians have lost interest. So, we’ll never know the extent to which New Deal’s successes were sustainable.
You would think, after investing £50 million pounds in each of 39 places, someone somewhere would want to know whether this investment generated positive change into the future.
Does Burngreave still benefit from these successes two years after the final evaluation? Will it still benefit 5 years or 10 years after the programme? My impression is nobody cares.
What do you think?
