Understanding Poverty Seminar; Community Assets and Poverty Wednesday 30th May, 9.30-12.

30pm, Glasgow Poverty Alliance and Scottish Community Development Centre Summary: Opportunity now to inform the Scottish Government Community Empowerment and Renewal Bill for 2013 as the consultation was launched on June 6th Do assets-based approaches provide new opportunities or threats to the poorest and least well off in society? A need to analyse the determinants of health and wealth What is the most appropriate form of 'capacity building' to ensure communities have the infrastructure and support to take on assets A need to know what are the right questions to ask of people and communities to inform this debate There is a cry for examples of successful community development that supports community-led regeneration from the start that is appropriate to the community and place involved. Context: Andy Milne from SURF (Scotlands Independent Regeneration Network) set the context and opened the conference: Achieving a Sustainable Future: Regeneration Strategy (Scottish Government 2011) was mentioned as now putting communities first in regeneration, and looking to empower communities to lead on this, with a focus on people and the quality of places. He highlighted two clear and important shifts in current policy and discourse: 1. Physical asset transfer (Community Empowerment Action Plan 2009 and Achieving a Sustainable Future 2011) 2. Co-production (Christie Commission 2011) He highlighted the ever increasing levels of inequality in Scotland and Britain with Britain now being the 4th most unequal country in the world according to Donny Dorlings research, and headed to be the most unequal. See http://www.poverty.org.uk/09/index.shtml for more details. Today was an opportunity to look at the relationship between assets and poverty and reflect on that to inform and influence the shape of the Community Empowerment and Renewal Bill set for release in late 2013. Alasdair McKinlay who is charged with writing this has supposedly set that the agenda for this is very open and nothing is yet decided upon as to what will be in it. Therefore the coming consultation will be very important and a great opportunity. Finally, he asked the questions; 'is the assets narrative a smokescreen for larger issues' Lynne Friedli (Freelance researcher) Assets-based approaches can pathologies and blame individuals and cultures for poverty, dependency and lacking capacity, whereas we need to address the inequalities caused by economic and fiscal policy and regulations. Debate around assets is obscuring the very real causes of poverty

Public services ARE successful, despite the myth that they have failed and need changing. Statistics show that they have been effective and vital to peoples lives To need and be dependent is a natural human trait, despite the myth of it being something negative. Even the rich are dependent on many things, and need and rely on certain policies, laws and systems Everyone is enterprising in some way, despite the myth that we need to be more enterprising to be sustainable. We all contribute to society and development, yet some people get a much greater share of the wealth than others.

Ian Cooke (development Trust Association Scotland) We are not just going to provide good quality homes for people to enjoy their poverty in." Archie Thompson, Renton Community Development Trust. Sustainable regeneration is community-led. There is now slowly the recognition at national level of this and willingness to support this An opportunity to take control and for communities to lead and set their agenda and create resilience economically and against environmental changes, with the social assets they have Development Trusts create partnerships that they form, and therefore not imposed from the top-down o become multi-agency talking shops like in the past. There is a silent revolution happening Asset ownership however is not right for every community, and doesn't just have to be housing, land or buildings There is a limit to what local authorities can do for communities as they dont have the power to set tax credits, benefits or redistribute wealth. Inspiring examples and support from The Plunkett Foundation. Their research has shown that 250 out of 260 community shops are still running 20 years later, demonstrating great success rates and longevity that the business sector can only dream of Nichola Sewell (Borders Healthy Living Network) (link) Issues in rural parts of the Borders are ones shared by many rural communities across Scotland with pockets of poverty and deprivation Opportunities for Growing your own assets or creating them through social and community projects. Need time to build appropriate infrastructure rather than just getting a building or physical asset. Discussion: What will be the impact of other policies (e.g. The UK Welfare Reform Bill 2012 or the Sustainable Procurement Bill) on communities and what are the implications then that need considering for the Community Empowerment and Renewal Bill? Are assets becoming a form of social mobility for communities as some move up and others stay dormant, creating further inequalities? Is the enterprise/entrepreneurship narrative displacing one that is about social justice and equality; I.e. Are people who were previously discussing, implementing and working for better and fairer conditions for

people in society now focusing their time and energies on making a good buck in the market and streamlining local agencies to be as effective and profitable as possible? With this in mind, is the assets approach a marketisation of the poor, as Phillip Blond has been suggesting in his model of progressive conservatism? Communities are not homogenous or in consensus. There will be tensions and conflicts and support needed. Resources will be needed for this. The Bill will not solve poverty, neither will community asset ownership but it can help communities to create better opportunities for themselves More money and resources needed for community-led research Need to understand what co-production might actually be Be careful that this is not imposing a new professionalism If asset transfer requirements, commission and procurement procedures and regulations, and funding applications, all remain bureaucratic, with dense language and structures that favour traditional professionals, then this will continue more of the same but at a different level. Northern Rock (worth 13 billion to the taxpayer) was transferred to Richard Branson and Virgin out of public ownership. Communities should have the same opportunities and be on the same footing as big businesses to own assets and have them transferred just like this. The history of the welfare state being to counter the negative effects of the market. This bill could continue that legacy but adapt it to the context of the contemporary economic climate, and show commitment to maintaining social justice and social support within a market that benefits some more than others. Big business faces the same dilemmas in dealing with assets but has been given the support and opportunities to benefit from it. Communities should also have an equal opportunity and voice to do this. Ideology may affect how people talk about assets and what they see as community assets. But there is also a right to be able to demand more the right to create rights, and not just work with what you have or what you are told you have. Would there need to be different requirements and suggestions for rural and urban settings, and would the rural one be informed and administered by the rural parliament? Reactions from the group suggested they were not so different and the principle remains the same wherever you are The Bill will provide both rights and duties. What responsibilities will this therefore place on communities? How rigid will it be? What will count as evidence?

Suggestions for the bill (duties or rights): To recognise what community-led and community assets are; A duty on public bodies for full assessment of assets and their potential liabilities Responsibility of ministers to think in cross-cutting and cross-sectoral ways The need for more community development support for taking over and supporting asset transfer, and engaging with wider community and evidence of that What form of community development would that take? Early communityled research for example How will it contribute to closing the equality gap?

Participatory budgeting: Top slice local budgets for community-led budgets to build a true bottom up infrastructure What assets are up for transfer? What do we need to keep in public ownership? What this information and this debate open to the public and transparent What happens if there is a failure for community asset ownership? Need to make sure we maintain rather than decrease current levels of service provision Research and analysis of long term impact of transferring assets and its impact on poverty e.g. in the U.S.A Ensure equal and just representation of the community, and which communities, in the ownership of assets. How to deal with tensions within communities too Considering the conflicts within community and increasing levels of local accountability and disagreement if local authority providers and elected councillors are removed. Often communities are transient how to deal with that? Is the Bill itself top-down? Need for community development in all sectors Need to regenerate not just assets but local democracy How can resources be best targeted? What new resources will it generate, and will they balance physical and social growth?

Central issues for the day: 1. Lack of clarity over assets and a need for clearer definition and understanding in the bill 2. What resources will be connected with the bill to ensure on-going support for communities to mitigate against collapse through initial burdens and difficulties of asset management 3. Ambiguity over what the implications and applications might be and how to encapsulate this in the bill For more reading and articles on this topic, follow this link: http://www.povertyalliance.org.uk/ckfinder/userfiles/files/review/SAPR_14_Wint er1112_FINAL.pdf