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Neighbourhood Renewal Fund (NRF)

Background

The Government launched the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund (NRF) in October 2000. It is the main vehicle to deliver the National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal.

A New Commitment to Neighbourhood Renewal:A National Strategy Action Plan was launched in January 2001. The main aim of the strategy is to seek to narrow the gap between the most deprived areas and the rest of the country.

The NRF is provided so that local authorities can focus their mainstream spending in ways that deliver better outcomes. It is therefore about how core public services can be improved in the most deprived wards rather than a fund for one-off regeneration projects. The money is non-ring fenced so it is up to local authorities to determine how the money is spent according to local service priorities. A total of £400 million has been allocated to the 88 authorities within England on a non-competitive basis according to need as measured by the Indices of Deprivation 2000. In County Durham Derwentside, Easington, Sedgefield and Wear Valley have been allocated a combined total of £17 million to spend over three years (2001-2004).

The central thrust of this initiative requires that NRF should contribute to the delivery of national targets set in departmental public service agreements for five main government spending programmes listed below:

  • Education
  • Employment
  • Crime
  • Health
  • Housing

Conditions/Criteria

There are however certain conditions that the eligible authorities will have to fulfil in order for the money to be accessed. They must:
  • Be part of and working with a Local Strategic Partnership (LSP).
  • Have agreed a local neighbourhood renewal strategy with the LSP.
  • Be tackling deprivation in their most deprived neighbourhoods and contribute to delivering tough national floor targets set as part of the Public Service Agreements (PSA’s).
  • Be performing satisfactorily under best value.
In the first year it will be deemed acceptable that the eligible authority merely shows a commitment to working with an LSP and a commitment to making a contribution to national PSA targets.

In two tier authority areas such as County Durham, although the money will be paid in the first instance to the districts, part of the grant would, by agreement, be paid to the County Council to improve key local services. Please contact Claire Williams on tel: 0191 3784342 for information.