At this week’s Stronger Communities Committee, members were updated on the development of the Council’s neighbourhood work, aimed at addressing inequalities and improving life opportunities across all communities as Knowsley continues to grow.
The neighbourhood development programme is outlined in the Knowsley Council Plan 2025-2030, specifically stating that there will be a focus on understanding the challenges within communities to tackle the root causes of inequalities; services will work alongside communities to ensure that everybody has the same opportunities to realise their potential; and the Council will create strong community networks.
Four priorities focus on the issues that make the greatest difference to local communities and where partners can effectively pool resources to maximise impact. These are Children (including best start for life and child poverty); Health; Employment; and Connected Communities.
In addition to the Council Plan, national Government Policy is focused on developing neighbourhood models across a range of different services such as health, early help and social care, Pride in Place programmes (in Page Moss and Kirkby), the Local Youth Transformation Project and the Knowsley Place Partnership (aimed at improving levels of physical activity in Knowsley).
Knowsley is now ranked as the 11th most deprived upper tier local authority in England, from second most deprived in 2019, out of 153 local authorities. This reflects the progress made in Knowsley in recent years on key areas of the community and economy. It is the first time that Knowsley has been outside of the top five most deprived local authorities nationally.
However, there is still a higher proportion of neighbourhoods experiencing greater levels of disadvantage including poorer health outcomes, and greater demand for services.
The Committee was updated on the work being undertaken to understand local communities. This includes the “Your Voice, Your Community, Your Knowsley” consultation (capturing what local residents think is good about their neighbourhoods, how connected they feel and what community means to them), analysis of the demographics in Page Moss and Fincham to support the Pride in Place programme and further work to better understand the best start in life and health in communities across Knowsley. This will provide a strong foundation for future neighbourhood working, using learning from our communities to shape and improve how neighbourhood support is developed and delivered.
The neighbourhood development programme is underpinned by early intervention and prevention, focused on growing community capacity and supporting more people to be active within their communities so that people help themselves, each other, and their local places. This builds on the Stronger Communities agenda which focuses on:-
- Capacity Building – support to the community sector with capacity building, audit and governance and highlighting funding opportunities to enable organisations to maintain and expand their offers.
- Maximising Assets – maximising the use of physical assets and information systems. This includes a new volunteer platform, the review and upgrade of the Live Well Community Directory and Community Asset Transfers.
- Volunteering and Social Action – partners are working to increase volunteering and social action opportunities and participation levels across Knowsley. The youth voice continues to be a key priority with the Youth Cabinet in Knowsley growing in size.
The Committee welcomed the update and the progress that has been made to date.