The poorest neighbourhoods will soon be able to express their concerns and ideas directly to the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit in the DTLR through a Community Forum. The Forum will act as a two-way channel of information enabling the people that know what is happening on the ground to influence the Government’s understanding of what works best. It will also help Government share its renewal ideas with a wider audience.A recruitment drive has been launched to find twenty individuals to form the Forum which will be chaired by the head of the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit. The adverts call for people from all walks of life, with skills and experience of living and working in England’s deprived areas. The Forum needs people who can bring a frank voice and constructive approach to the job of making neighbourhood renewal work.

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A survey by the GMB union of staff working in local government housing, social services, education and environment found that over half respondents believe that Best Value is not delivering results. Many of the staff feel that Best Value actually means lowest cost and that it is a route to privatization.The staff view that Best Value is not delivering the expected greater efficiency or the hoped for value for money is shared to a large extent by Audit Commission Controller Sir Andrew Foster in his Best Value Annual Statement. Although he asserts that there is much to celebrate he warns that 60 per cent of councils were judged poor or fair. It is particularly concerning that the Audit Commission has judged that half the council services inspected are unlikely or not going to improve.

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