Eastfield Community Project Reduces Anti-Social Behaviour
An innovative approach to local spending on community projects has been hailed a success in reducing anti-social behaviour according to a report to the Community Confidence Board of North Yorkshire Police Authority on 5 February, 1pm at the Novotel in York.
The Participatory Budget pilot was run in Eastfield, Scarborough during summer 2009 and involved local people coming together and being asked to vote on those local projects they wanted to fund from a total of £34,000. The majority of the funding came from the Police Authority with support from other partner agencies including the County Council, Scarborough Borough Council and North Yorkshire Police and as such the projects all had to make a contribution to reducing crime and disorder in the area.
Eastfield residents were asked to 'Voice Your Choice' and voted to fund nine projects involving all parts of the community, many aimed at younger people.
A full evaluation report on the initiative has confirmed its success. Whilst very early to be certain of long term benefits, Leo Suret, the local Safer Neighbourhoods Police Inspector said "The linking of police staff to the projects has most certainly increased the bond between us, neighbourhoods and partners. I can tell you that compared to this time last year anti-social behaviour has fallen 23.6%."
Jane Kenyon, Chairman of North Yorkshire Police Authority said "Engaging with local people about local priorities is what the Police Authority is about and the Authority welcomed the opportunity to support this initiative in Eastfield. It has shown what can be achieved, with a relatively small amount of money if the local community is fully involved in the decision making. This is exactly what happened in this project as the group leading it was run by a local resident"
The success of this pilot, which has been held up regionally as an example of best practice, has resulted in plans to repeat similar approaches in other areas. Scarborough Borough Council is allocating funds to run participatory budgeting across the District, North Yorkshire County Council is looking at how it might take this forward across the County area and Eastfield Parish Council is seeking to find funding for another event during 2010.
Please note that this report was originally scheduled to be heard on 18 December 2009 but the meeting was cancelled and rearranged for the 5 February 2010. The evaluation report is attached for information.
