PRE_SUD

1
Second Performance Assessment Newcastle City
Council 2-6 February 2004
2
The Review Team

• David Agnew, Improvement and Development Agency
• Jan Andersson, City of Malmo
• Alfons Finkers, City of The Hague
• Julia Brown, City of Birmingham
• Mike Peverill, City of Nottingham
• Davide Bergantin, City of Venice

3
Follow up visit.

• To establish the progress that has been made by
  the City Council following the the earlier
  assessment in September 2002
• Identify emerging issues and challenges within
  the City
• Governance, Integration and Environmental themes
  

4
Leadership

• The City Council recognises that strong
  leadership is important and has sought to
  strengthen community leadership
• The City Council has vision, ambition and
  aspirations and is using the Newcastle Plan to
  focus these
• Considerable assets (structural and capital)
  provide opportunities for leading on sustainable
  development
• The City Council is reluctant to share and
  entrust leadership to others
• Ensure outcome-based targets are in place,
  wherever possible, for what it is trying to
  achieve, either by itself or with partners
• Ownership of and accountability on SD in the City
  Council is unclear and too dependent on
  innovative individuals

5
Democratic and Community Engagement

• Willingness to test and adopt new forms of
  governance
• Community participation is being developed i.e.,
  Area Networks
• Environmental Ward Stewardship is increasing
  funding (1m) of local environmental services
• Together with local residents new housing based
  on SD principles are being considered
• LSP Theme Partnerships are established and
  considered work in progress
• Other agencies, partners appear unwilling to
  engage with the City Council
• A reluctance to trust impedes the councils
  ability to establish effective relationships
• The complexity of City Council structures,
  procedures and decision-making hinders community
  participation
• The tradition of good ideas/moral leadership
  outside the council, e.g., Traidcraft and
  Neighbourhood Energy Action should be embraced
• A we know best attitude and self-interest
  within the City Council is compromising
  leadership and innovation within communities.

6
Performance management

• Progress continues to be made within corporate
  planning and performance process
• Critical success factors are set and monitored
  around environmental targets
• Good work is evident on sustainable purchasing
  and procurement in Neighbourhood services
• Neighbourhood Services Management and Envirocall
  are examples of improving responsiveness to local
  needs
• Performance management framework established, but
  SD does not feed into it
• The scrutiny function is too service focused -
  there is limited liaison between individual
  select committees
• Human resource processes and procedures do not
  recognise SD
• Still a way to go corporately on EMAS and
  sustainable development
• SD is not yet fully embedded within
  organisational cultures, systems or processes

7
Regional Co-operation

• Newcastles future is inextricably linked to that
  of the Region and the Citys success is now seen
  as a regional success
• Newcastle/Gateshead cooperation has been welcomed
  in the Region
• The Council is confident and positive about the
  Citys role as the regional capital of the North
  East
• The City Council appears to have adopted the view
  of Newcastle as separate to the Region rather
  than seeing itself as integrated part of the
  overall NE region
• To build a world class city, the City Council
  will need to co-operate more effectively with
  other partners within the sub-region

8
Integration of Social, Environmental and Economic
policy Going for Growth

• Strong national and local driver for regeneration
  
• Provides a clear focus and clear rallying point
  for long-term regeneration within the city
• Engaged communities in development
• Has raised aspirations, hopes and expectations
• Secured the Pathfinder programme
• Value of Neighbourhood Information Service
• Overall momentum of GFG seems to have been lost
• The commitment of the Council to GfG needs be
  reaffirmed
• Potential to lose the investment, time, energy
  and commitment
• The initiative needs to evidence more outcomes to
  citizens
• Will the end result be Sustainable?

9
Environment

• Green Spaces
• Nature Conservation
• Soil
• Water
• Air
• Energy
• Waste
• Transport

10
Public Comments

• I have been living in Newcastle for four years
  and have not seen many things done in terms of
  sustainable development
• Good statements and general policy however much
  to do on involvement and practice
• The council talks a good environmental policy but
  usually has to be pushed extremely hard to take
  any positive action
• Many good ideas but actual success is limited as
  with most of these initiatives a certain amount
  of momentum needs to be achieved before real
  progress can be seen other than planned to
  happen
• Action falls short of words
• In the last five years or so Newcastle City
  Council has become far more proactive in its
  approach to green issues
• The diversity of community and talent in
  Newcastle is great, and is suffocated in
  bureaucracy and mis-managed projects
• Still too much emphasis on the use of motor cars
  as the prime means of transport
• There seems to be a genuine attempt to make
  things happen in the city

11
Recommendations

• Use the real opportunities and potential to
  create a sustainable city through all the
  regeneration
• secure political and corporate ownership for
  sustainable development following elections
• turning commitment to sustainability into
  reality
• Champion internal commitment, understanding and
  ownership of sustainable development - currently
  sustainability is persuasion rather than
  direction
• continue to support and empower leadership within
  communities built on trust
• do not underestimate the capacity of the
  community
• Ensure that the Strategic Planning,
  decision-making and Scrutiny processes take
  Sustainability in to account
• Keep it simple one thing is clear, nothing is
  clear!

12
And next.?

• Report in 8 weeks
• Newcastle and stakeholders provide feedback on
  the performance assessment process, this
  presentation and the report
• Consider how to make further advances towards
  sustainable development
• Conference in early September in The Hague

13
Thank you Newcastle