Herpreet Kaur Grewal

Bodies set up to ensure community participation in local decision-making could see an overall 40 per cent reduction in funding due to the loss of Neighbourhood Renewal Fund (NRF) cash, according to a third sector umbrella body.

Research by Urban Forum, due to be published in two weeks, says that community empowerment networks (CENs) – third sector bodies which aim to act as a bridge between voluntary bodies and local strategic partnerships – are facing “major reductions in funding”.

Urban Forum chief executive Toby Blume told Regeneration & Renewal that the reduction was partly due to a tight spending round over the next three years. But he added that the “biggest factor” was the loss of NRF cash.

This week, the NRF, which since 2001 has ploughed £2.9 billion into England’s most deprived areas – and funded the work of CENs – was replaced by the new Working Neighbourhoods Fund, which will fund initiatives to boost enterprise and tackle worklessness.

Blume said that another significant finding from the study was that few CENs would be able to take on more advocacy and representation work, such as sitting on local strategic partnership boards, compared with last year, because of the reduction in funding.

Last month, the Government said that a white paper that would seek to “reconnect people with politics” would be published in the summer (R&R, 7 March, p1).

But Blume said: “There’s a major dissonance between the commitment to … communities having a greater say, and the resources flowing in to support that.”

A Department for Communities and Local Government spokeswoman said: “We are cutting the strings on funding over the next three years, so councils, who are best placed to decide, can choose to channel money into CENs.”