Co-Production? Let them eat Tottenham Cake!

Haringey Council is proposing drastically cutting the support it gives to community centres through rent and buildings subsidies.

A portfolio of 24 of council-owned buildings provides a lifeline to hard-pressed community centres in the borough by providing them with premises on a peppercorn rent or supported by council grants.

A Council proposal will see this support drastically cut as the rent levels are moved significantly closer to market rates.

The Haringey Community Centres Network, a coalition of the borough's community centres, makes no bones about the impact of the change. They are clear that for many this will mean that their work can not continue and they will be forced to close down.

We all understand the intense financial pressure that councils have been under over the past few years, but we have to question the wisdom of this current move.

It's not hard to find evidence of what the public spending cuts have meant locally. Support for the most vulnerable in our community has been cut very severely. Some of the yawning gaps have been filled by our volunteer-run community centres. It's difficult to overestimate how valuable they are in supporting the most vulnerable in our community.

As the public spending cuts began, there was much talk of how co-production (councils working alongside the community) could help fill the void created by funding gaps. Here is a wonderful example of how this collaboration has been working and could continue to work. To pull the rug out from under the feet of these groups seems intensely short-sighted.

One might guess that in terms of a return on investment, most of these groups represent incredible value for the public purse. At the very least I'd hope that an audit has been done on the economics of cutting this support as well as on the social impact of the change.

Last week the Haringey Community Centres Network made a compelling case in their deputation to the full Council. Their current aim is to put on hold the implementation of these changes to "enable proper consideration of the strengths of community centres, and proper consultation with the sector".

You can see this deputation in the video above. (Okay this type of thing doesn't make for compelling viewing, but the group make a good case and it's worth giving a few minutes to watch).

Tomorrow the group have organised a strategy meeting for all community centres in Haringey. They are asking anyone active in any community-run community centres, whether or not it is affected by the current 'Review', to attend the meeting.

Sunday 19th July, 3pm to 5.30pm
Conference Room, 639 Centre, 639 Tottenham High Road, N17 8AA

A copy of the Council's report on this change is attached