This practical report draws on the experiences of New Commitment to Regeneration (NCR) pathfinders, which have been an influential model for LSPs, to identify lessons for good practice. Amply illustrated by case studies, the report demonstrates 'what works' in effective strategic partnerships and highlights implications for partner organisations and the role of government. It:locates current developments in the context of evolving urban policy;identifies critical success factors for strategic partnerships;discusses the dimensions of whole systems change necessary for partnership working;indicates key challenges and tasks for LSPs and their partners;points to the need to redefine central-local relationships.·[vbTab]·[vbTab]

The single Community Programme is a Government initiative which seeks to encourage local community participation in local policy-making across England and in the design of the public services they receive. The initiative is expected to cost around £182 million between the years 2001-2006 and targets the most deprived local authority districts in England. It seeks to ensure the representation of diverse community needs through the provision of grants to community groups involved in improving their neighbourhoods, and support for community empowerment networks that help communities influence local decision-making. The scheme has so far supported around 25,000 separate self-help and community projects, funded directly through local voluntary sector organisations. This report focuses on the effectiveness of the single Community Programme in encouraging communities to get involved in neighbourhood renewal and regeneration schemes, and seeks to identify broader lessons of relevance to community participation initiatives across the whole of government.

This is the first report from the Justice Committee in the 2009-10 session and examines the subject of: "Cutting crime: the case for justice reinvestment" (HCP 94-I, ISBN 9780215543080). The report calls for a change in the way we tackle criminal justice and seek to cut re-offending. The Committee states that the criminal justice system faces a "crisis of sustainability" if resources continue to be absorbed by an ever-expanding programme of prison building rather than on preventing crimes from being committed, with prison building not being an effective long-term answer to coping with the already record-breaking prison population which is predicted to rise further. The average prison place costs £41,000 a year (plus further capital costs and health and education expenditure on top), with the Government's new prisons costing - on current estimates - up to £4.2 billion over the next 35 years. The Committee believes that a more "prudent, rational, effective and humane" use of resources is needed to shift the focus of expenditure away from incarceration and towards rehabilitation and prevention. This would involve investment in local education, health, drug, alcohol and community programmes in targeted areas based on analyses of where offences occur, where offenders live and "what works" in reducing offending. This is known as "justice reinvestment". Volume 2, contains oral and written evidence (ISBN 9780215543110).

This bestselling book has been substantially updated to take into account changing policy and practice

This title was first published in 2003. While in the past, corporate community involvement was mainly considered a form of philanthropy, nowadays the argument is gaining credit that corporate community involvement is not only a matter of ethics, but also of self-interest. As companies recognize their interest in the welfare of the city, they may become inclined to invest in some way in that city's welfare. Assuming that the interests of public and private stakeholders tend to converge as companies become aware of their interest in an attractive environment, then corporate community involvement may bring along a new type of public-private partnership, as an instrument of urban regeneration. Bringing together comparative case studies from Amsterdam, Chicago, Leeds, London, Munich, New York, Seattle, St. Louis and The Hague, this considers the potential implications of corporate community involvement for the sustainable development of cities and the creation of cross-sector partnerships. It analyses the involvement of companies in urban challenges in the fields of education, employment, safety, affordable housing and the living environment. It also looks at the efforts made to establish strategic partnership between "enlightened" corporations and public authorities. The book reveals that "pro-active" firms attach much value to investments in their "urban environment" as part of their corporate strategy. But it also shows that cities do not yet take full advantage of these arising opportunities.