Jargon Buster

This phrase refers to the accumulated experience, knowledge, learning & wisdom that exist across the entire CN4M network (the membership). We regard this as a significant intellectual resource that can be harnessed in various ways for the benefit of the Third Sector, the Public and the Private Sectors.

Shorthand for a wide range of support, techniques and initiatives which aim to build the capacity of individuals or organisations within communities to contribute effectively to regeneration projects.

A cohesive community is one where:

• There is a common vision and a sense of belonging for all communities
• The diversity of people's backgrounds and circumstances is appreciated and valued
• Those from different backgrounds have similar life opportunities
• Strong and positive relations are developed between people from different backgrounds in the workplace, schools and neighbourhoods

The Community Empowerment Fund aims to help voluntary and community groups to become empowered in order to participate in Local Strategic Partnerships and neighbourhood renewal. Government Offices for the regions are responsible for distributing Community Empowerment Fund resources.

The plans which local authorities are now required to prepare for improving the economic, environmental and social well being of local areas and by which councils are expected to co-ordinate the actions of the public, private and voluntary organisations that operate locally.

The LAA is an agreement between central Government and a Local Strategic Partnership, which lays out priorities and the targets the LSP is hoping to meet. It also sets out the local flexibilities central Government will allow the LSP to enable it to meet its targets.

The LAA approach also allows for core funding streams to be brought together, so that the LSP has a greater say on where funding is spent.

There are four key areas within an LAA: Safer Stronger Communities, Healthier Communities and Older People, Children and Young People and Economic Development.

This is the agreement between individual local authorities and the Government setting out the authority's commitment to deliver specific improvements in performance, and the Government's commitment to reward these improvements. The agreement also records what the Government will do to help the authority achieve the improved performance.

A Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) is a single body that brings together at a local level the different parts of the public sector as well as the private, business, community and voluntary sectors so that different initiatives and services support each other and work together.

It is a non-statutory partnership that provides a single overarching local co-ordination framework.

The LSP is responsible for developing and driving the implementation of Community Strategies and Local Area Agreements (LAAs).

In areas receiving Neighbourhood Renewal funding, the LSP is responsible for agreeing the allocation of this funding and helping to 'narrow the gap'.

For further information, visit: http://www.communities.gov.uk/localgovernment/performanceframeworkpartne....

Participatory budgeting is a democratic process of decision making where ordinary residents decide how to allocate part of the public budget.

These are the nine Government agencies, set up in 1999 to co-ordinate regional economic development and regeneration, enable the English regions to improve their relative competitiveness and reduce the imbalances that exists within and between regions.

Social capital is a concept that refers to connections within and between individuals and social networks. Though there are a variety of related definitions, they tend to share the core idea that social networks have value.

Social capital seeks to facilitate co-operation and mutually supportive relations in communities and can be a valuable means of combating many of the social disorders inherent in modern societies, for example crime. Developing Social Capital can also benefit personal access to information and skill sets and enhanced individual/collective power.

The Government has defined social exclusion as being a shorthand label for what can happen when individuals or areas suffer from a combination of linked problems such as unemployment, poor skills, low incomes, poor housing, high crime environments, bad health and family breakdown. It can also have a wider meaning which encompasses the exclusion of people from the normal exchanges, practices and rights of society.

The Compact is an agreement between Manchester City Council and the voluntary and community sectors, setting out how they relate to each other. The Manchester Compact includes codes of practice on funding, inclusion and consultation.

The Third Sector is a diverse, active and passionate sector. Typically organisations in the sector have three common characteristics:

• They are non-governmental
• The are value-driven
• They have a not-for-profit ethos and reinvest financial surpluses to further their charitable objectives

The Third Sector encompasses grass roots, neighbourhood, voluntary & community organisations, charities, faith-based organisations, social enterprises, cooperative and mutual societies, large and small.