An Evaluation of the Community Contracts Pilots Programme |
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Funders: Department of Communities and Local Government
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The Institute for Political and Economic Governance (IPEG) and the Centre for Census and Survey Research (CCSR) at the University of Manchester are conducting an evaluation of the Community Contracts pilots programme on behalf of the Department of Communities and Local Government. Community contracts, otherwise known as Neighbourhood Agreements or Charters, are voluntary agreements between local people and town halls that will allow residents, local elected members, and service providers to set minimum standards, put in place checks on quality, and generate collective action to improve neighbourhoods. Community contracts are intended to give residents and communities the opportunity to agree a wide range of service standards with providers on tackling drug dealing on estates, bin collection, clearing graffiti and street cleaning. Contracts are an opportunity to clarify expectations on both sides. Residents can offer to take up responsibilities that contribute to making better places. Our approach involves: a review and analysis of locally held quantitative data; six selected in-depth case studies (each of which will include interviews with stakeholders, a residents focus group and targeted "vox pop" interviews with residents). In addition, we will host a practitioner event to test our evaluation findings. |
The deliverables are: a workshop with practitioners; a final report and four good practice case studies. The outputs from the project will provide usable knowledge and definitive good practice. The evaluation will use a clear analytical framework that delivers outputs that go beyond the descriptive, and that will be able to answer questions about success factors contributing to effectiveness, transferable good practice, and to make some overall assessment of effectiveness of Community Contracts across very different approaches, communities and neighbourhoods. The proposal brings together a team of experts in local governance, public services, neighbourhood working and community engagement. Contact Details.
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