Communities scheme has 'had little impact' - watchdog (From South Wales Argus)

Communities scheme has 'had little impact' - watchdog

12:40pm Thursday 9th July 2009

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A SCHEME which spent £214 million to improve some of the poorest areas in Wales has not had an impact, according to the public spending watchdog.

The Assembly’s Communities First scheme, launched in 2001, spent more than £34 million in Gwent, but the Auditor General for Wales said there was no evidence of an overall impact over the past eight years.

The project has 188 partnerships covering deprived areas across Wales, including 62 in Gwent.

A total of £34,006,384.70 has been awarded across Gwent since 2001 - £11,287,933 in Caerphilly, £12,455,997 in Newport, £2,654,102.70 in Blaenau Gwent, £6,656,502 in Torfaen and £951,850 in Monmouthshire.

The report, published today, said the Assembly’s own departments didn’t always make it a priority and it was not clear how much impact the partnership had on improving things such as employment levels.

Criticisms aside, the report recognised that despite a difficult start, there have been improvements to how it distributes money and monitors performance.

However, it wasn't until 2007 that action was taken to check if partnerships were being run as intended.

In response to the report, the Assembly said: “This report should not detract from the excellent work that is happening on the ground across Wales by local partnerships that are making a very real and direct positive impact on local communities.”

Auditor General Jeremy Colman said the Assembly needs to work much more closely with other public bodies to maximise contributions to the programme.

Communities First projects range from health workshops to training courses and environmental clean-ups.

The report said communities had generally benefited from programmes such as these, but made 11 recommendations to the Assembly, including prioritising Communities First and supporting bid applications.

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