Menu
Ireland's political and cultural magazine
12 November 2014
will now assume responsibility for co-ordi-
nating community development and local
development. This will include managing
the funding process for programmes in this
field. Advice from the Attorney General has
identified a requirement that these Local
Community Development Committees be
subjected to EU procurement legislation. The
reforms will therefore include changes to
the funding arrangements for the successor
programme to the current Local Community
Development Programme, which is the
N
EW le gi sla tio n a nd ch a nge s t o f u nd in g
arrangements, community develop-
ment programmes and institutional
structures are all sowing confusion and
frustration among community organisa-
tions. The rhetoric behind these changes
has been about bringing coherence to the
community sector, avoiding duplication and
ensuring value for money. So far the oppo-
site has happened. Bringing about so many
changes that are ill-thought-out and insuf-
ficiently planned is damaging the work of
these community organisations.
A key moment was the signing into law
of the Local Government Reform Act 2014
early this year. The subsequent reforms to
local government are the source of many of
the changes for local community organisa-
tions. There are not only too many change
processes going on at the same time, but
there is also too little information or engage-
ment with the community sector on the
issues involved.
Local Community Development
Committees, established under the new
legislation in each local authority area,
Positive response
to major new
programme but fears
that implementation
will be privatised
and community
sector organisations
sidelined.
By Ann Irwin
Competition
confounding
community
confusion
NEWS COMMUNITY SECTOR
November 2014 13
biggest social-inclusion programme in the
country.
The funding will no longer be based on
a grant-giving arrangement between the
Department of Environment, Community
and Local Government and implementing
organisations such as the Local Development
Companies. Local Development Companies
and other interested organisations must now
tender to deliver the successor programme,
the Social Inclusion Community Activation
Programme, in their area.
While the response to this successor pro-
grammes has so far been quite positive, the
concern for local communities is at the pros-
pect of privatisation of the implementation
of this and other similar programmes. This
potentially introduces a profit motivation
into this work. Local authority areas have
also been divided up as ‘lots’ for this procure-
ment purpose. As a result competition has
been created in a number of areas between
organisations that are implementing the cur-
rent programme. This has led to tensions and
fear of redundancies amongst their workers
in some areas.
Implementation of the new Social Inclusion
Community Activation Programme, with its
local focus, fails to take account of the work
of national community sector organisa-
tions in enabling the current programme
to be effective. These include the National
Traveller Partnership and the National
Collective of Community-Based Women’s
Networks, for example, which have worked
with local organisations to support them
in implementing the current
programme. The Department
has, so far, failed to develop an
alternative model to include the
necessary work of these organ-
isations. It is, however, widely
accepted that the proposed
model for the progreamme,
which would see the work come
under the auspices of the local
authority, is inappropriate.
Alongside this, new institu-
tional structures to facilitate
the participation of the com-
munity organisations and the
voluntary groups in the work
of the local authorities are
being established. Community
and Voluntary Fora that have
operated in each local author-
ity area for over a decade
are being replaced by Public
Participation Networks in each
local authority area with little
or no consultation with com-
munity organisations in many
areas.
The new Local Community
Development Committees are required to
develop a Local Economic and Community
Plan. This will require a significant con-
sultation process with communities and
representative organisations in their area.
At the same time, those engaged in the ten-
dering process for the new Social Inclusion
Community Activation Programme are also
required to carry out a consultation process.
In areas where the LEADER programme is
operating there could even be a third set of
similar questions being asked.
Recent workshops in Donegal, Mayo and
Longford organised by the Community
Workers Cooperative confirm that confusion
reigns at local level and frustration is grow-
ing. It has been suggested by some that these
processes are being influenced by a markets-
fixated drive to privatise and to control civil
society and they are clearly damaging and
undermining the capacity of community
organisations to focus on issues and to seek
equality and inclusion. •
Local
Development
Companies
and other
interested
organisations
must now
tender to
deliver the
new ‘Social
Inclusion
Community
Activation
Programme’ in
their area
“
