Small Heath Community Forum

What Was the Stimulus?

Birmingham City Council is developing the concept of Learning Labs to stimulate innovation and change throughout its operations. These are being applied within the Council, linked to Best Value Reviews (eg, with direct services organisations) and outside, linked to new thinking on regeneration and democratic renewal (eg, with a neighbourhood forum).

The use of learning labs was prompted by a Cabinet Office initiative in 1999, though managers in the Council were already exploring group learning in considering performance indicators, benchmarking and other elements of Best Value.

How Was The Need Tackled?

The Council sees learning labs as a "way of teaching teams, neighbourhood forums and groups of stakeholders, how to resolve problems and dilemmas that stop them securing continuous improvements for customers/ citizens". Labs are formed by bringing together groups of people who have an interest in pursuing a common purpose or problem, and have been applied in diverse settings including Citiserve (the Direct Service Organisation for catering and cleaning services in Education) and the Small Heath Community Forum.

The Small Heath Community Forum brings together interests with a stake in the regeneration of this part of the city. It is a membership organisation, set up originally under a Single Regeneration Budget programme for the area. It is constituted as a company limited by guarantee with charitable status.

The learning lab provided the opportunity for Forum members to think about the future of the area and enable others from the community, especially those who do not regularly attend Forum meetings, to explore issues and think through how to tackle them. The agenda has included:

• dealing with Council bureaucracy
• environmental issues (eg, as fly tipping, retailers' rubbish and car repairing in residential premises)
• security and crime issues (eg, drugs, car theft and insufficient police on the beat)
• leisure needs (eg, facilities for youngsters)
• access to training, particularly for women

Two Council officers have acted as facilitators. Group members were encouraged to talk about local needs and priorities, and the role of the Forum in addressing these. They were encouraged to reflect on their experiences, and identify ways of increasing the value and effectiveness of the Forum, through building influence, better information and new initiatives. The early discussions were summarised and fed back to the members of the Forum through the use of visual images (Venn diagrams, charts, graphs and mind maps) which helped them clearly see where they were and the direction in which they wanted to take the Forum.

This was a new form of involvement for the City Council, supporting the community representatives to determine their own agenda. Previously, the Council engaged in the area through direct service delivery or funding local organisations to provide particular services on its behalf.

The facilitators have been particularly concerned to help the Forum follow through on the knowledge that its members have gained, and have mentored Forum staff to support action on the ground.

What Were the Outcomes?

The main benefit for the Forum has been to strengthen strategic capabilities:

• a sharper idea of what members want to and can realistically achieve
• recognition of their strengths - and that they do not have the resources to do everything they might want
• greater ability to engage in dialogue with the professionals (more understanding of the concepts and language)
• better understanding of what they bring to the table, and what public sector partners are looking for from them

Members also have greater confidence and trust in the Council, and are more likely to make approaches to the Council with ideas, requests and suggestions. The Forum has since bid successfully for a grant from the Community Fund, to develop a fuller programme of capacity building.

From a Council perspective, the experience of supporting the Forum has been a step in bringing about change. There is a recognition that the Council "doesn't connect very effectively" with local communities, but could achieve a lot more in future in collaboration provided that (a) neighbourhood organisations strengthen their capacity (b) the Council makes changes itself. Such local forums can be critical to bringing about joined-up service delivery, as they have passion, energy and a single-minded focus on the needs of their areas, while council departments are more likely to be concerned with service efficiencies and their own ways of doing things. The investment in building relationships can have significant pay-offs in future and reduce the likelihood of 'mud-slinging' that has happened from time to time in the past.

More generally, what matters most to the Council is that learning labs play their part in changing mindsets and promoting culture change: "we are looking for new opportunities and connections for change". Specific results from learning are of secondary importance.

The Council is looking to use learning labs in other contexts, where there are "fissures", situations within the council or its partnerships where there are identified needs and the scope to make a real difference. It is now trying to persuade other public agencies to lend staff time in support for organisational capacity building in the voluntary and community sector..

What Was Learnt?

Keys to success are reckoned to be:

in working with the Community Forum

• be clear about the purpose of learning labs
• help participants understand the language and agendas of the other partners
• focus on what Forum members bring to the table and the scope they have to influence
• provide pictures to help participants see where they are and where they want to reach

within the Council

• build evidence of the benefits of doing things differently - in the past grants, Service Level Agreements, or direct delivery
• show that change isn't too painful; what can be gained in "letting go"
• develop change management and facilitation skills amongst managers
• take initiatives where there are fissures - opportunities for change, where there are compelling needs, drive and energy

within the facilitators

• secure trust of Forum members and officers
• focus on the best interests of the neighbourhood and its people
• think outside of the Council's 'organisational box'
• an ability to live at the 'edge of chaos' and take risk

Contact

Dilbagh Dhami
dilbagh.dhami@birmingham.gov.uk

Senior Policy Officer
Community Safety Partnership Development Team
Room M133
Council House
Birmingham
B1 1BB

Tel: 0121 303 4790
Fax: 0121 303 9867

More information can be found on the Cabinet Office website:
Citiserve
Small Heath Community Forum

Partnership toolkit designed by EDuce Ltd
Web site designed and developed by Xentica