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BRUM SPENDS £160 MILLION - WITHOUT CHECKING THE OUTCOME

14-04-2008

Birmingham spent £160 million of government money without having any system for finding out if the cash was wisely spent according to a critical report sent to councillors. It says that local authority officers in charge of the scheme often carried out their duties in addition to their “day jobs.”

The conclusions come from an independent report into the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund, which operated throughout the city between 2001 and 2007, but is now being replaced by the Working Neighbourhoods Fund.

In 2005, the NRF was given a poor “amber/red” rating by the government, although it has since improved to amber/green.

Acording to the report, carried out by consultants Shared Intelligence, the overall impact of NRF “appears to be limited.”

It says, “NRF has not led to the sort of ‘transformational’ impact that would be needed to close the gap between more affluent and more deprived parts of the city.

“Further, the majority of NRF interventions have not been sustained, either through securing ongoing funding for specific projects or through changing the way mainstream services are delivered as a result of ‘piloting’ through NRF.”

Shared Intelligence highlight the Council’s failure to monitor the outcomes of NRF spending: “There has been a real gap around performance management of NRF interventions, little evidence about the achievements of many projects...and relatively few examples where learning from local NRF projects has been transferred to other initiatives or parts of the city.

“Project officers have carried out their roles ‘on top of their day jobs’ and as a result, have often had limited time or skills to manage projects effectively.”

There’s also criticism of poor commissioning processes for the NRF programme, although the report does highlight some positive features too.

It points to specific instances where cash has been spent to improve police resources, reduce crime, narrow health inequalities and boost resources for children and young people.

NRF was delivered for the Council by the Birmingham Strategic partnership, now called Be Birmingham, which is reorganising the way spending is delivered through the Working Neighbourhoods Fund.

To see the report in full, click here (pdf file)