This review essay is based on the report “Building Safe, Active Communities: Strong foundations by local people”, the third report written by Baroness Helen Newlove, the Government’s Champion for Active, Safer Communities (Newlove, H, 2012). The report covers issues in areas of community safety, voluntary and community sector as well as community engagement. In Baroness Newlove’s view, “local people are the foundations for safe, active communities”. (Newlove, H, 2012). The report, which highlighted various case studies from different communities, is aimed at offering advice, know-how and a map for grassroots activists to follow, which will bring new ideas that have been proven to work. In essence the report called for a change of culture so neighbourhoods no longer see crime, antisocial behaviour and disorder as someone else’s problem. Furthermore, this review essay will highlight how the policy report engages with the ideas and concept of community as discussed in Book 3 of DD208. It will show how the report draws on evidence and constitutes evidence itself. This review will also reflect the entanglement of community, social welfare and crime control concerns as well as responses to the same.

Baroness Newlove was appointed the government’s Champion for Active, Safer Communities in October 2010 and has since then worked with communities across the country to discover the needs and wants of grassroots activists. She highlighted the progress in her first two reports and also announces the lunch of £1 million fund by the Department for Community and Local Government (DCLG), with the central aim of tackling binge and underage drinking, termed tackling “Binge Britain” and which the report focuses heavily on in terms of crime and antisocial behaviour. (Newlove, H, 2012). The fund will also support local agencies, business and local people who will work in partnership to tackle problem drinking in ten communities in the space of two years. Being an activist with first-hand experience of community organising, Newlove’s responsibility includes informing local government on the needs of grassroots community activists in terms of gaining access, support and recognition in order to continue their work and grow new areas and forms of community action across the country. She promotes responsibilisation and encourages communities to rely on themselves to bring about a safe and active community, rather than always waiting on agencies. (Newlove, H, 2012). As earlier mentioned, her report also evaluates the progress of her first two reports and challenges local agencies and the central government to take actions on her findings.

Furthermore, the report includes stories of community action from her seven ‘Newlove neighbourhoods, showcasing a cross section of areas and the various stages of community development. There are also numerous case studies showing activity and innovation across areas such as crime, young people, housing and participatory budgeting. The report will come handy for the use of executive members and people responsible for the community safety and crime, community engagement, equalities, youth as well as public health and those that has connection with local communities and voluntary groups. Also it will be useful for Crime Safety Partnerships and anyone with links to local Community and Voluntary Sector umbrella bodies and those who desires to do more for their communities. (Newlove, H, 2012)

The idea of ‘Community’ has different meanings to laypeople, scholars, policymakers and the government. To some it is a term used in everyday context and conversation and it may suggest group of people that are connected and care about themselves. (Mooney, G and Neal, M, 2009. Pg. 2). Perhaps community is seen as a territory of welfare and social well-being because of the notion of care and social bond attached with it. (Mooney, G and Neal, M, 2009. Pg. 2). Also, Toonies sees community as a human togetherness formed through the convergence of: the biological, the geographical, the sociological and the psychological (Bell and Newly, 1971, cited in Mooney, G et al, 2009). Community can also be seen as one having a very strong identity which may prompt hostility to and exclude those seen as outsiders. It may be seen as evolving around groups rather than individual and also as a term used to categorise people in term of social conflict, deprivation, problem and disadvantaged places. (Mooney, G and Neal, M, 2009. Pg. 2). Baroness Newlove perhaps reflects some ideas about community, especially in the seven Newlove Neighbourhood. The following will highlight the report with the concept of community as, a spatial concept; non-spatial sites of identity and culture, and as sites of citizenship and governance.
Community as a spatial concept is broadly used in the policy document as it portrays peoples’ attachment to a particular geographical place. According to Lee and Elsa and Sheila, the face to face contact, mutual support and interdependency has perhaps formed the attachment to their various communities. (Mooney, G et al, 2009, pg. 6 and 10). And as Amit and Rapport (2002) argued, people acquire their sense and feeling of belonging through ordinary everyday way of life, including “our neighbours, the parents at our children’s school, or team mates, fellow students, club members, conference-goers and more” (Amit and Rapport cited in Mooney, G et al, 2009, pg. 7). This concept of one on one contact is greatly promoted in the report and evident in the seven Newlove neighbourhoods: the ability of grassroots activists, individuals, and even public servants to volunteer services in their capacities to enrich the community, the local governments and to bridge the gap between politicians, officials and citizens. In other words, the report is a place based interpretation of the concept of community. (Newlove, H, 2012). According to Siva of the Hackney Newlove Neighbourhood, on the aftermath of the riot in summer 2011, who received support regarding his looted store, not only financially “…but moral support from people I knew and from people I didn’t know. It showed me that this is a great community, where although some people are bad 90% are good…” (Newlove, H, 2012). This, perhaps show a great sense of community engagement, care, mutual support and interdependence, promoting a sense of belonging through virtual communication and familiarity of face-to-face contact, (Mooney, G, et al, pg. 4), which is one of the issues identified by Newlove.
The concept of community as non-spatial suggests that community can be demonstrated beyond place and locality and people are able to feel bonds and a sense of belonging with people they may never meet face to face or socialize with, hence reflecting a sense of community. (Mooney, G, et al, pg. 16). The notion of online or cyber communities, where people’s interaction and their sense of community is enhanced by technological development through the internet or mobile phones, is also reflected in Baroness Newlove’s priority to set out criteria for a successful and effective online hub with the main purpose of providing community activists with the information they need in order to engage in their community as well as challenge decision makers where necessary. Newlove in her words said, “I’m excited that new technology like ‘Facewatch’ is there to tackle crime” (Newlove, H, 2012). Facewatch is an internet based crime reporting system, funded by corporate sponsorship, and used by businesses, communities, organisations and the police to report minor theft and share information on suspects in the bid to tackle low level antisocial behaviour. This, according to Baroness Newlove, used in conjunction with CCTV footage, will enhance reporting suspects and save the police both time and resources. (Newlove, H, 2012). Moreover, facewatch also includes victim support features such as automatically updating them on the progress of their case. This concept of community as an imagined, and identity based interpretation of the policy report as well as a focus of welfare and crime control policies.
The concept of community as sites of citizenship and governance identifies community as a site that “affirms social order, moral consensus and authority”. It emphasises the concept of community as becoming “a part of contemporary thinking with regards to ways in which populations might be managed and their social needs and well-being facilitated”. (Mooney et al, 2009). This is again reflected in the report with reference to underage and binge drinking which she considered deep-rooted causing disorder and violence to town centres and neighbourhoods, which is distressing and costly to deal with. This she said will be tackled through educating young people to understand the perils of reckless drinking and also partnering with government by addressing the role of parents as a role model. (Newlove, H, 2012). She announced the launch of £1 million Government fund to help local agencies, businesses and most importantly, local people to come together and tackle the problem in a long term strategy. (Newlove, H, 2012). “I have found concrete evidence that multi-agency working is incredibly effective in tackling the deep-rooted problem of binge and underage drinking that blights communities and causes such misery”.

One policy proposal is the Choices and Consequences (C2) and the ‘buddi Tracker’ carried out in the Hertfordshire. This was put in place because the criminal justice had failed in rehabilitating people that passed through the system. The C2 programme focused on burglars and those responsible for acquisitive crime to fund their drug habits. C2 involves an agreement with the local judges to offer offenders a deferred custodial sentence of a four-year community sentence, instead of jail term, where they will be “supported in their effort to get away from crime” (Newlove, H, 2012), This is welfarist in nature. However, the referred offenders are put under strict supervision by probation with monthly review of their cases by the judge who may impose certain conditions on them. The offenders get help relating to drug and health, getting and holding down jobs and accommodation. On the other hand, the offenders will have a GPS tag known as buddi tracker, which is monitored by the police round the clock, voluntarily fastened on them to keep them in check. (Newlove, H, 2012). This aspect of the buddi tracker is perhaps a crime control domain to prevent further crime. The programmes have rehabilitated and reduced re-offending in many offenders. However, committing the same crime or even more serious ones may send them to prison.

Furthermore, the C2 and the buddi tracker programmes does not only “highlight the complex ways in which social welfare and crime control policies are entangled in practice of community-based policy, and the ways in which apparently welfare-oriented initiatives become associated with more punitive forms of intervention, but also the ways in which initiatives apparently driven by punitive agenda may associate with approaches providing social support.” (Cochrane, A,. and Newman,. J, 2009, pg. 50)

The report was emotive in nature and has used both qualitative and quantitative evidences, and researches. However, for such an extensive report, there is lack of clarity for some of the issues identified as priority. For instance, the three priorities for 2011/12 , i.e the online hub, getting civil servants to volunteer and tackling problem drinking in communities are not interconnected with one another and the logic behind it was not given. Problem drinking and its impact on crime and neighbourhoods was made more important than the other set priorities. Community-based crime prevention and devolved responsibility and accountability will be a major issue for the new Police and Crime Commissioners. Judgmentally, this strategy of directing funds to preventative community-based initiatives to achieve better results can as well be transferred to health, wellbeing, improving public spaces and countless other areas. Hence the public fund will do more with less, and could be a pointer to new ways of delivering and devolving some aspects of public services.
In conclusion, Baroness Newlove’s third report showcases national initiatives to motivate and encourage community action. It demonstrates some positive long term outcome that may be achieved from using the map laid down in the report. It suggests that the best approach to reduce crime and disorder is to devolve power and responsibility to a more local level, hence reducing total dependency on formal intervention whereby the communities will take control and work together to improve their areas. (Newlove, H., 2012). Also, the concept of community is being mobilised as a site to generate and deliver policy intensions in the areas of social well-being and evidence through numerous case studies and the commission of policies to tackle local priorities and concerns as well as commitments to monitor processes by relying on evidence to show policy effectiveness. (Cochrane, A,. and Newman,. J, 2009, pg. 181).