Listening to communities: Belfast Community Investment Programme (BCIP)

People We have been working with the Department for Social Development (DSD) to design new and better ways to support Belfast's community development sector.

Our approach, called the Belfast Community Investment Programme (BCIP), establishes an annual £5.4 million commitment to support the sector to deliver a series of joint outcomes for Belfast.

Under its current timetable it was planned that, subject to formal consultation, BCIP would open for applications from community organisations across the city in October 2013 for funding for the 2014/15 financial year. The project aimed to run a year ahead of the transfer of functions under Local Government Reform. The rationale for this pilot year was that it would give the community development sector, and the council, an opportunity to prepare for the wider transfer and to gather learning that could be shared with other partners and councils.

Together with DSD, we have spent many months engaging on the ideas for the design of the programme. This has been a time-consuming process, but has ensured that stakeholders have been involved in the development of BCIP from the outset. There appears to be genuine enthusiasm for the concepts behind BCIP and its outcomes. The sector in particular has been encouraged by the long-term public sector commitment to community development that BCIP represents.

During this pre-consultation period the sector has also raised a number of issues and challenges for BCIP. There were concerns that the October 2013 date would be too early for the sector to adequately prepare for a new fund and that the pace of change is too fast. There were also concerns with attempting to deliver a new approach to community development ahead of other local government reforms. That said, many others have pointed to the advantages of this approach which clarifies and champions the role of the community development sector during the reform period.

Working with councillors and the DSD Minister we will consider the issues raised during the pre-consultation period. Over the next few weeks we will reflect on any implications for our approach to the new programme and consider and agree a way forward.

Full details will be available on this site in early June 2013. If you'd like to be kept up to date please send your details to bcip@belfastcity.gov.uk.

In the meantime, here's some background information on the work to date which has informed the BCIP proposal.

Background to BCIP

1. Making the case for community development

In developing BCIP we first needed to explain what we mean by community development and describe the unique contribution it has to offer in communities across the city, but particularly in disadvantaged areas dealing with complex social and economic issues.

We began with our new Community Development strategy, which had broad approval from the community and voluntary sectors in Belfast. The strategy's definition of community development has now also been adopted by DSD as a basis for our discussions on outcomes.

The definition states:

Community development activity is the main means by which we can be better engaged with local people and support their involvement in improving the city and its neighbourhoods. It enables people to come together to: It is a long-term, value-based process which targets positive social change.

2. Defining community development outcomes

Working from the definition of community development, we needed to decide on the main outcomes we want BCIP to contribute to and how we could measure its impact. The community and voluntary sector made a valuable contribution to this phase of the project through the pre-consultation. This was aimed at considering the long-term impact of community development activity and how BCIP could best support it.

With a clear set of outcomes it is much easier: You might find it helpful to consider two papers prepared for us by the organisation Community Places. The first explains the thinking behind using an outcomes approach to designing BCIP, and the second describes the outcomes and indicators associated with the previous grant programme: As part of our engagement with the public on the design of an outcomes framework for BCIP, we held two public workshops at Malone House in November 2012. We also set up an online questionnaire to gather views on the nature and content of the framework.

3. Agreeing the outcomes framework

Drawing from the results of this work we developed a framework for BCIP. It defines the impact that community development is expected to have in the city and identifies ways we might measure this impact.

The framework was agreed by Belfast City Council in February 2013. The framework proposes two strategic outcomes for community development work: Supporting these are three operational BCIP programme outcomes:

Providing support to the community and voluntary sector

We've committed to working with the community and voluntary sector to prepare for the new programme and its application process. We're also committed to working with the sector during the life of the programme. BCIP is not just about providing grant funding; it's about the entire range of coordinated support that the council and DSD can provide to the community sector in the city.

If you feel that your organisation would benefit from some support please contact the BCIP office on 028 9027 0579 or email us at bcip@belfastcity.gov.uk.

Grant schemes affected by BCIP

Together with DSD, we are planning to close six existing community development grant schemes in Belfast and use the budgets for these schemes to support BCIP.

The schemes that will end are: During 2012 and 2013, the number of groups funded through these existing funding schemes totals 326.