[UK] Poverty cash not spent on poorest

from IC North Wales

By Roland Hughes, Daily Post

LESS than a fifth of Assembly money spent on a Welsh community initiative went to neighbourhood projects, it was claimed last night.

The Communities First programme was launched in 2000 with the aim of reducing poverty in Wales at grassroots level.

But a Plaid Cymru-commissioned report claimed only 15% of the £99m spent on the initiative so far was going on funding projects.

Shadow social justice minister Leanne Wood AM said Communities First was littered with "major problems" and was spending money "to little effect".

A spokeswoman for Assembly social justice minister Edwina Hart said the minister would respond to the claims in full at an Assembly debate today in Cardiff.

But one North Wales Communities First worker insisted there were no quick fixes.

The Plaid Cymru report claims "the programme to date has not made a measurable impact on poverty" in Wales, quoting three reviews of the programme that " revealed major problems."

One claimed progress was slow and varied across different areas of Wales.

Ms Wood, a former probation officer lecturer in social work, said: "This research does not criticise the value of all Communities First projects or the staff involved in them.

"It simply raises important questions about whether this national programme works. We in Plaid Cymru want an effective anti-poverty programme, not one that simply spends this money to little effect.

"It is essential we know whether this programme is delivering. At the

moment, we cannot tell because the government has changed the way deprivation is measured.

"Taxpayers deserve to know whether their money is being spent effectively, and people involved in Communities First projects need to know they are doing work that is considered worthwhile."

But Paul Hockaday, Communities First co-ordinator on Bangor's Maesgeirchen estate since 2003, said: "Are they saying that money spent on staffing and planning isn't a project and isn't worthwhile? It is not just about the projects you produce but about the process.

"Communities First is not a stand-alone answer to poverty. It would be unrealistic to say we go into a community, work with people, build up their capacity and somehow increase their wage levels.

"It is a very simplistic way of thinking - we are raising people's aspirations and expectations, but we need a broader economic infrastructure out there to help people.

"We do not expect to see everybody in jobs and crime and disorder vanish within three years."