New Deal, come on some one PLEASE think about what is happening to our communities ,your closing Post Offices , communities NEED Post Offices. Have you any idea what it is like for villages once the Post Office has gone .Trying to post a parcel is impossible , you have to travel to the nearest town to have them weighed which adds to the expense, you can't just post them! . Pensioners struggling to shops to access Cash Machines for their pensions and having to stand in queus in local shops to pay bills by Pay Point , having to let folk know your business , the Post Offices allowed a little privacy , the Post Master/Mistress knew folk. If the cash machine in the local store is broken how do we obtain our family allowance or our pension.We all don't have cars or are capable of jumping on a bus to the nearest town, peolpe like the community spirit that a Post Office affords the village. As a life long Labour Supporter I worry that this is another nail in the coffin. PLEASE get real come out into our villages TALK TO PEOPLE, LISTEN TO PEOPLE, sitting in Westminster is no good at all you need to get out and LISTEN TO WHAT WE THE VOTERS WANT!

I would like to know what the government proposes to do to help young people find homes currently on our local authority waiting list there are over 3000 people waiting for local authority homes with no homes available. ?Given this situation private landlords are increasing their rent on their properties due to the shortage of houses. Surely that after thr conservatives introduced the right to buy during their leadership why has no money been invested in building new local authority homes. Everyone in politics are going on about affordavle housing and buiding more so that more people can get on the housing ladder but even then they are out of reach for many of the youngsters. There seems to be a clear message more social housing is required. when or who will address this nationwide problem.

has the government/party become too remote they certainly do not show interest in the working class,as per their announcement that they will never hold any more of their party conferences at blackpool because poor blackpool does not meet their standard also its not worth investing in the local hospital for equipment to allow a child to use the scanner ( the child has to wait for preston or liverpool to have a vacant slot to enable the child to be treated} yes we should all be proud of the labour party but concerned about its present day ideals ( a film called the man who would be king) springs to mind will it be worth us voting for labour or just forget them as they have forgotten the northern working man and his family

Lets get creative & have community based activities for children during school holidays & out of school hours. They could be learning Life Skills & preparing for living on their own as adults / parents as well as 'Summer Camp' type activities. Involve the whole community so everyone gets to know & respect each other.

It does not matter if New Deal is good or not if Hazel causes bigger problems through her other actions. For example insisting on splitting Cheshire in two at great expense to the tax payer forcing the local authorities to cut their budgets impacting on the needs of the deprived and disabled. Ministers should not cut and change things so it looks like they are being bold if they have no clue what they are doing. Paying a 2.5 grant to the wrong Newcastle just shows DCLG has little or no idea what goes on above North London. Another sour faced official from DCLG could not explain to BAE why they have stopped allowing in kind support as match funding for grants - something the voluntary sector relies on - although he knew it was a firm DCLG decision. I think we local government officers should stick to pushing paper and let others get on with ministerial duties - come back Ruth Kelly all is forgiven!!!

How about Community-based child-care / education small centres open to all - like large houses with child friendly envirnoments - unlike schools? Particularly during the school holidays & after-school hours.

I have been the director of a Sure Start programme in Millmead in North East Kent for the past seven years. I have seen real change in the community. Breast feeding rates have increased from 27% to 57% at birth, teenage births are down by 65%, crime rates are down and there has been a major increase in library membership for children. Sure Start has made a big difference in peoples lives with over ninety percent of parents surveyed stating that they are very satisfies or satisfied with services provided by Sure Start Millmead Children's Centre. Parents have reported that they have chosen to move into and buy a house in Millmead because of Sure Start. I have worked in the public services for over twenty years and I have not seen any policy to have such an impact as Sure Start. We have now incorporated as a Community Mutual, a business with a social purpose. We deliver a wide range of services for young children and families. We work in partnership with parents and children and we employ 50 local residents. We have recently started to develop services for local teenagers. This is a very exciting time as we take forward out model of integrated working from early years to the older age groups. Feedback from teenagers and parents has been very positive. Millmead is a very deprived community and has been referred to as a "classic sink estate" and a "community on the edge" with local residents not engaged in any meaningful way with the local political processes. It has bee very challenging but we now have nearly two hundred (local)members in our social enterprise. There is a new localism and for the first time in years a new optimism. Sure Start Children's Centres need to be more closely linked to the regeneration agenda especially for communities like Millmead. We have developed a model that delivers we now need to see more joined up working accross the DH, DCFS, Office of the 3rd Sector and Communities so that we have a more integrated and strengthened approach to development within our neediest communities.

do any of these messages ever get an answer or are we all wasting our time Labour Party member

They ussually respond via video on youtube and embedded on this site

All we have in Ilfracombe are the same old faces on a newer quango. The real impact is little more than window dressing, their goals are the same old tired and unachievable fantasies we've heard for the past 25 years. Some people may feel they relate to the community more, many feel just as excluded as ever. Why is it good to force people into unsuitable work? Why is it good that the rich are able to profit to the detriment of everybody else? Why do you persist in treating individuals as identical pieces of your inadequate behaviourist model - for example forcing children into your educational nightmare before they are ready? Why do you expect local authority workers to waste so much time producing very dubious paperwork that make it seem as if your imposed targets are beneficial when they get in the way of a more personally beneficial development? (You may deny it, but I know from my daily experience that it is true). Wht do you continue to echo the nazi slogan that work makes you free?

The NDC initiatives have undoubtedly delivered some real benefits; however, the local structures have often proved extraordinarily bureaucratic and expensive, which means that the model will be too expensive to sustain and replicate as the economic climate gets harder. More importantly, the area-based initiative model is fundamentally flawed, because it offers nothing to areas which are not quite as deprived as the most disadvantaged, nor to disadvantaged people in affluent areas. We need to refocus on economic solutions to inequality: the growing gap between rich and poor under New Labour is a scandal. We should start by significantly increasing the minimum wage and stop pandering to the ultra-rich in London.

If this government really want to make difference they should start by cutting wages to the larger wage packets. This would lower the class divide at least a little bit. Why is a binman any less worth to society than a doctor. Nearly all of us play our part why should some get £100,000 more than others.

Tim, i dont believe a bin man is any less worth to society than a doctor. Both do tremendous jobs in keeping our societies clean and healthy. However reducing the amount of wages that a doctor earns in comparison to that of a bin man would be by no means a real threat to our NHS. Lets not forget the intense 7 year training that doctors endure, as well as the long hours and complex nature of their job. If it were not for the attractive large salary, how many people would actually be doctors? By this I am not stating that doctors do their job solely for the financial rewards, but i would think that it holds great significance. Surely there has to be more than a little difference in pay of these type of jobs, so that the younger generation have something to aspire to?

Hayley, i don't mean to say that both binmen and doctors should get equal pay. I agree that doctors should reap some rewards as to the extra training however my point is that the rewards they are reaping is more than it should be. But doctors was just an example i could have said lawyers or bank managers or any number of other jobs. But also think of people such as social workers and other care providers who also have to go through training and courses in their profession. These people also have a very taxing job and, in some cases, a more stressful job and yet they are grossly underpaid. How is this fair? The younger generation which i am included in are aspirational to probably to the same extent as you were along with your generation. Many people, myself included, have no idea what they want to be when they grow up only a handful do. Wages havn't always been as high as they are now why should it change?

I'm so glad you're progressing with the Communities concept. It's about time something happened as I'm sure the difference will show over a period of time.

Hi Hazel, we have had some great results here in Sunderland with Sure Start etc. But to inspire communities and gain their trust, we must try to help get there own ideas brought to fruition. Here in Sunderland the people are working towards bringing a derilict building back into economic use for the benifit of all. Please try to visit us at Hylton Castle and help make the vision of ordinary people come true.

Another report highlighting great work by Labour at a time when they are about to abandon the 10p tax rate thus hitting many people in these communities with a higher tax burden, thus further coupled with a backdown on non doms, a bridging of the gap between the richest and the poorest? Again as long as the nanny state exists and the belief that unemploymeny can be a lifestyle choice. i believe that no matter how much money is thrown at this long term once the money goes the same old will return.

I think the New Deal for Communities, like Sure Start and the Minimum has been one of the major differences this government has made. I was a Councillor and on the board of an SRB Partnership for 10 years and saw the potential of this sort of partnership work. The crucial thing is long-term sustained action as you can't turn round a community overnight. The two questions I would like to ask are: 1. How will you ensure NDC's can actually create the sort of community assets as set out in the Quirk report which will sustain their work over the long term especially when local authority legal and finance departments can be very risk adverse? Would you consider creating incentives for local authorities to make this happen more quickly? 2. Can you perhaps identify an NDC area to rapidly pilot a community land trust to retain local capital for social purposes? Everyone agrees they are a great idea, but for all the positive comments there has been very little action. Thanks for any reply you can give.

fair enough it might work in the long run but how long and how much more money will it need, being seen to be helping communities is always good, but building nationalised work places would be a better way ahead, where most of our skills that this country has lost in the past can be brought back. new deal for Communities is only a springboard to success, we need to build nationalised work places, for the young, the most don't want to be on the dole, stay in bed all day with nothing to look forward to, but go out nights and smash thing up to get rid of the frustation of having no money, get them jobs now not an extra £10 on their dole money for a job with no future for them.

Hello Hazel I live in a New Deal Area within Elswick Newcastle upon Tyne. Whilst the New Deal programme is into it's countdown to succession in 2010 and is a celebrated success(in some quarters) the elected members decided to withold £5million pounds out of its overall £55 million to buy assets - buildings in the hope that it will bring in enough revenue to sustain some activity beyond 2010.Let us hope (as local people) the board have thought about higher risk that is associated with high return! I do concede that there have been some sucesses ...if somewhat short lived. The norm seems to be to raise the aspirations of local people, to fund a project that makes a real difference to the most "hard to reach" people,then...no longer fund it or help to make it sustainable. Whatever happened to capacity building with communities to give them the skills to do things for themselves or traditional grass roots youth and community development workers who do not have conflicted views about their practice versus policy? ?? heres to the next initiative!

NDC has been a big help to Coventry providing funding to revamp a run down estate in the City. However this estate has seen large amounts of funding in the past. It has a long history of criminal activity and gang related crime. In the past if your face did not fit into the estate you were hounded out. Homes burt to the ground or trashed. Poor policing alloewd this to happen very little community engagement was done on the estate until NDC funding came in. So what worries me is when NDC money comes to an end will the estate fall to decline again. It NDC money at the moment that allows crime reduction to take place. They fund extra policing crime reduction and family engagement. Domehawk CCTV and ASB engagement youth activities and other family events. So will this be funding when the money runs out. Its unlikely which means its likely to fall back in to a crime ridden estate. So i ask that yes its a very good idea NCD funding but we need an exit plan can you tell us what that plan is.

As a young person I have seen a substantial improvement around Salford. I live on an estate in the East of the city and over the years there has been more for the kids around here to do. I have two younger brothers, one goes to the local youth club and the other often visits a SAYO scheme. They are kept off the streets for a little while which makes round here a little better than it used to be. Our community has really began to benefit from the regeneration of the area especially since the building of a new primary school and new local shops about to be built. However there are still problems with crime and poverty but can these ever be solved?

How is it that over the last 10 years ijn my area I have noticed only increases in cost and no imporvement in service since Labour came to power in 1997. One of our problems here in Alnwick is that some years ago the town was declared, by some media personages, to be the most desirable place to live. Since then house prices in Alnwick and thus Northumberland have risen to price out the first time buyers and have now almost completely stalled the market. Our young people have no chance of making the housing ladder due to wages being low and the aforesaid house priceds being high, I would therefore be pleased to return to the low tax situation we had before your government came to power and Brown introduced all the stealth taxes, especially his raid on the private pension funds. May be it is nieve of me but I find that paying billions to Brussels, whivch could be used for the needy in the UK, is positively dishatening especially when we are to be denied any say about yet mor being given to Brussels for nothing but dictated laws and an open door policy for any European who wants ot invade our country which is already full. I can not see any advantage to having a minister for any of our comunities while we are tied to Brussels and having money hemoraging away.

Two comments: 1. I live in Hertford, a rich area, and yet there are localised patches of serious poverty where people no longer vote. 2. There is much local concern that local young people cannot afford the house prices here and yet is a powerful group lobbying (supported by the local press) against the planned northward expansion of Harlow, with much misinformation about the floodplain.

The plans for the northwards expansion of Harlow were rejected by the independent Panel of planning inspectors at the Examination in Public held two years ago. The inspectors heard all the evidence and rejected the notion. I am unsure to what "misinformation about the floodplain" John is referring. The ten reasons to reject building north or Harlow are: 1. There has been no justification whatsoever that a large expansion of the town is necessary for its regeneration. An adjacent new settlement would compete with the existing town for available funds and skilled workers and exacerbate rather than resolve Harlow’s current disadvantage, creating a “doughnut effect”. 2. The Regional Economic Strategy does not address the jobs requirement associated with this scale of house-building. It is clearly premature to allocate major housing ahead of some evidence of employers’ interest in providing jobs. Without employment growth the outcome will be housing for a larger commuting population which is unsustainable. 3. The Department of Transport has consistently argued against a new junction on the M11. A new M11 junction north of Harlow is major change from previous policy which favoured a southern by-pass which gives access to the Pinnacles employment areas. The most serious urban traffic problems already exist in Harlow derived mainly from local and terminating traffic. These will worsen significantly. 4. There has been no proper consideration of the best future urban form for the town. The area is separated from Harlow by a dual carriageway, a railway line, and the wide flood plain containing the River Stort, an area of Special Scientific Interest. The original Harlow masterplan recognised the Stort Valley as a natural boundary, separating the urban area from the countryside beyond. 5. The plan fails to understand the value of the Green Belt policy. This policy is seriously undermined because the plan takes the view it can be set aside without good cause. If it is Government policy that Green Belts can be ignored then a much wider range of options should be considered. 6. Land to the north of Harlow (compared to south, east or west) was considered to be the most sensitive (Buchanan 2004). Expansion on the north of Harlow would mean the loss of some of the most beautiful landscape in Hertfordshire (Buchanan 1974). Easy access to the countryside is considered a benefit by many employers (Jan-Feb 2005 Harlow Council consultation with local businesses) 7. Land to the north of Harlow is on the direct flight path into Stansted airport and subject to considerable and constant noise. 8. Enormous demand will be placed on resources by large-scale expansion of Harlow. • Water supply and drainage raise serious investment and environmental issues. • There is no programme for the significant additional hospital capacity. • Rail services are under severe strain and increased passenger numbers at Stansted will exacerbate this situation. 9. The Sustainability Appraisal of the Plan states “The scale and pace of growth envisaged is likely to be highly environmentally damaging…. and is likely to have serious negative impacts on water resources biodiversity, tranquillity, air quality, recreational access and congestion” 10. There is no reconciliation between the claim that development north of Harlow is ‘deliverable’ and the massive investment (£300 million deficit) required for infrastructure before development can commence. If it continues to be an element of the plan it will become a commitment mill-stone preventing better options for the regeneration of Harlow. If you would like to know more about the STOP Harlow North campaign please visit www.stopharlownorth.com or send an e-mail to secretary@stopharlownorth.com

I am a member of the labour party from Blacon in the labour marginal of Chester. I want to know from Hazel Blears why 2 of the worst 300 wards for unemployment in the country are not to get any Working Neighbourhood Fund money . BBecause Cheshire County is rated as a rich county and the fund is distributed to unitary and county councils and london boroughs only we wont get any We have 33% and 29% inour wards and got the old money paid through job centre plus but now we wont get anything to fund our job fairs or training for work Ihave a mind not to rejoin in june as what are you doing for us NOTHING AT ALL. I am on benefits for mental problems but still volunteer in the community as Vice chair of the Blacon employment and enterprise partnership of BBlacon neighbourhood pathfinder one of the first tranche of pathfinders which is nearly at the end of its funding and is finding it hard to continue until a new organisation takes control in april 2009 .That is being put in place bby us as i write this with no government help i must say. Thanks for the pathfinder funding it made a difference but we need neighbourhood fund funding to a much lower level than at present Thank You Gus cairns

Hello Hazel First and foremost I would like to see this report, is it possible to have it by post? I will then scrutinise/observe more detail and comment for your information.... best regards Shiranee Ranasinghe CLP Ilford South

I live in one of the worst areas(since 1999)Barne Barton Plymouth.Vertually no assistance/finance/opportunity gets through to the people on the streets. Finance and charges are removed by GO`s, Councils/agency set ups/RDA`s/and the usual culprits,funny handshake Brigade. Hazel,How can you do it differently so the poorest benefit?

Dear Hazel, I live in chadwell heath in essex and work as a doctor. I have noticed within my community that there is socioeconomic and cultural diversity. I strongly believe that if you can get things right at the micro level then you can achieve great results at the macro level. By this i mean that if you can get an optimal situation within families and individuals within those families then Britain can continue to thrive as a leading nation in all aspects of development on the national and international front. I feel our aim within communities should be to have individuals who are brought up in a culture of open mindedness and respect. They should have the hope of achieving great things in their future. The way to do this is through achieving good functionality within families. Functioning families can help produce individuals who are an asset to the community. The way labour can achieve this is through it's continued commitment to education,health,cultural diversity,being tough on crime and it's causes,reducing poverty,protecting the environment,reducing unemployment and providing more housing. Amar Afzal

Dear Rt Hon Hazel Blears, I am compelled by the outcome of the report by Sheffield Hallam University on New Deal for Communities because of the failure by the accountable body for the Bridge NDC Seven Sisters to commission an independently funded forensic audit of the accounts of the Bridge NDC Seven Sisters even a petition signed by over 600 residents have been demanding for this audit for the last 4 years. Having been a board member of the above NDC representing the Voluntary and Community Organisations and a labour party activist I am disappointed to inform you that even there have been some positive achievements in my area, by and large majority of Seven Sisters residents failed to benefit from the fruits of economic opportunities that were available in the area. Jobs, contracts and employment opportunities that could have benefited local people had gone out to people outside the community. I witnessed an event on the board which led to my resignation:£250k was commissioned to establish a radio station but this money was abused, unaccounted for and all that was given by the people responsible was- apologies. In order to restore the credubility of this initiate so that its legacy do not hunt us at the next local elections, it is imperative that the account for this body be audited as required by the residents who to a large extent believe that over fifty per cent of the resources are not being accounted for. Another issue is that of proportionality, transparency- the Bridge NDC Seven Sisters had failed in these areas!

It is good to see Hazel recognising the work of the NDC programme. Many people worked very hard for a long time trying to deal with the most difficult social problems in some of the most deprived areas of the country. We have been helped by the fantastic committment of members of the community who will not take second best and are prepared to try to do something about it. The Labour Government has backed the programme all the way and deserves credit for it.

The New Local Government Network, an independent thinktank, has found that the boards of quangos are packed by people from London and the south-east, leaving large areas of England unrepresented on influential bodies that spend £123bn a year. This is what the New Deal initiative is up against. Its not that Northeners don't try to get on the quangos, as I know to my disappointment. It seems to me that its just too convenient to the civil servants who run them to have their members close at hand.

Oh and hazel, love your really believable smile.

I live in Hull and feel that overall we are making a real difference in deprived communities, and it's a shame to read such negative comments. It's all about perception, and unfortunatley we all seem to lose any sense of reason when discussing crime, the streetsa ARE safer than they were eleven years ago, but it's going to take a long time to reach the hard core of disaffection The New Deal and the two million extra jobs in the economy are ways of raising aspiration and making people feel engaged. As Bill Clinton said; "It's the economy stupid1", and by spreading the economic benefits we will raise said aspirations. A big job but the right person is doing it.

I live in Stoke-On-Trent, an area which i dont think is part of your NDC scheme, yet this area is full of crime and anti social behaviour which makes me cringe at the thought of these areas that need your "help". I think the reason Labour is going to lose this next election is because quoting these figures which everyone knows are totally mis interprited to make it appear successful and at least the Conservatives offer a new lease of life on the anti social behaviour front. I cannot walk about safely in the week after 8pm, is that right? No, and we apparantly don't need your help, so im 16 and therefore probably attract trouble in your opinion the fact is you have failed in making the country a safer place because you target the whole problem from the wrong angle, these teens are messed up, generally coming from 1 parent families they turn to violence and alcohol to numb their pain and yet you think giving people more jobs will fix this? It wont, the reason crime has risen, and please don't start quoting your figures, since the 1950's is because we never attend an institution where we are taught respect for people, school is a joke and i should know, your state schooling is a farce, i have seen teachers in tears because they cannot control children because they have no means of doing so and schools wont expell these bullies because your stupid reward scheme system means they lose of if they do! Then we have the police, or the "pigs" as they are loving known who can't arrest people or pose any kind of a threat for fear of the form, that dreaded form and so here we don't learn respect either unlike the days when people trembled when a "copper" walked past, isn't that term of endearment far nicer than the "pigs" of today? What does this prove to you Labour? You are not tackling this problem and you make people like myself suffer whilst you live with your protection in your huge houses and large wage packets and frankly it is pathetic.

Some nice warm feeling from those results under labours New Deal. Take a look at the section on stronger communities under labour's policies.We are doing some very good things within the community. But answer the points raised in the stronger communities. I post my answers below. How do we help authorities to involve communities in the delivery of local services? Remove the final say from councils to the local community. Too many decisions are made by council officers and ratified by councillors on the advice of those same officers. If we had councillors who could think and act on behalf of the community, even if it went against the officers recommendations, the local community would be more interested in becoming involved. How do we give people a sense of ownership over their local communities and services; finding ways of involving and engaging people in local government? You need to listen to them for a start. Ideas as to how to make their location/environment/life better, has to come from the community. Decisions need a reverse process. Bottom up. Ideas are taken from the community; put to the council to work out the logistics and returned to the community to decide if to go ahead or not. Remove power from councils and return/give it back to the local community. How do we support and develop the role of the local councillor? Let him be the voice of the community. Remove restrictions on local councillors to speak up for the community. EG. A councillor in our town could not speak or vote on the idea to demolish or renovate a street, because that councillor lived in the street. It gags that councillor from speaking and acting on behalf of the community. I know we have talked about such ideas, but todate,there seems very little action on returning the real power to the community.

This one seems to have been kept under the radar - I hadn't heard of it until now. It seems to me that it is difficult to highlight any success in local areas, such is the constant prescence of national, 24-hr media. I'd like to ask how you can ensure success such as this doesn't fall by the wayside, how can this be turned into winning votes?