What role do community organsaitions play in creating a good borough to live in

In Islington there are several ways that the relationship between the council and these organisations have developed over the years and we are certainly moving forward into a new relationship. But there are some principles that Liberal Democrats we are clear about:

Involving the community is an essential building block in improving services, building civic pride and creating sustainable communities.

They believe strongly that where possible we will devolve as many decisions to local communities as possible and allow people to participate in the democratic process as much as possible.

That we work with the constraints now upon us from central government in terms of finance, new partnership arrangements etc - to make them work for Islington.

That the community and voluntary sector is a wide and varied group of people and organisations and what is needed by the paid-for-sector is very different to small community groups.

They believe in helping individuals achieve their full potential an equal role in society.

That all organisations, regardless of size - have a role in making us an A1 Borough.

Finally, they believe in an empowerment not a dependency culture.

In terms of what they offer the borough it is clear that cthe community and voluntary sector offers us a great deal they:

have strong links with local people, often built up over many years. The best community organisations are trusted and valued by local people and can get them involved in a range of activities which benefit them;

have connections with communities which can be "hard to reach" by statutory agencies - eg some black and minority ethnic communities, young lesbians and gay men, carers - and can reach those communities with services and act as mediator between them and statutory agencies - in fact our community cohesion agenda has identified three key divides - intergenerational, fiscal and cultural;

work flexibly with people: finding ways to deliver services which match the reality of people's circumstances and lifestyles to help us create an A1 borough;

provide a base where people can use their skills to contribute to their communities as volunteers;

can respond quickly to changing circumstances and newly emerging needs;

can feed through to policy makers valuable evidence of the needs of individuals and communities and the impact which government policies and practices have on them.

For these reasons it is vital that the council has strong links with voluntary and community organisations. These links have been fostered and continue to be developed in a number of ways:

the Compact which the council agreed in September and which was launched jointly by the council and IVAC in December sets out the commitment of the council to work closely with voluntary and community organisations to improve the quality of life and promote the welfare of Islington people. This is not, however, just a set of words but is based on a programme of joint activity by the council and the voluntary sector to improve partnership working in a number of key areas, such as consultation, commissioning services, promoting equal opportunities and encouraging volunteering.

we organised and hosted a major networking event for voluntary and community organisations in the Town Hall on 9 December which was attended by between 450 and 500 individuals from both the council and the many voluntary and community organisations across the borough. This initiative was very warmly received by the voluntary and community sectors and we were really encouraged by some of the individual feedback about how useful it was for people to meet each other, share ideas and explore new ways of working together for everyone's benefit. We are evaluating this event now, looking at the many comments and suggestions which were made for future work and will be identifying a number of specific issues for further development.

the council is involved in many partnerships with the voluntary and community sector, including the Islington Strategic Partnership and its sub-groups and partnerships like the Health Partnership and the Business Jobs and Training Partnership but also in many specific partnerships which are making a real difference to the quality of people's lives all over Islington. These include six Sure Start partnerships, for example, in which the role of community organisations and community-based services has been crucial.

Active citizenship theme group looking at new ways to support the community sector through some research and subsequent development project funded through this theme.

we work increasingly with networks of community-based organisations, such as the Faith network, which was set up by Bridget Fox when she was lead member for Regeneration and which I have chaired. We have worked closely with and supported the creation of a network of arts organisations in Islington. We are making closer links with the LGBT Forum in Islington. These and other networks provide opportunities for community-based organisations to talk to the council and also to develop a stronger role in developing and delivering services to their communities and the council is committed to supporting them and working with them. The Islington Training Network, established as a council initiative a few years ago is an excellent example of how the council can support networks of organisations to work well together. ITN now functions as an energetic and enthusiastic network able to win and manage significant funding for its activities.

we channel funding which we can access through community based organisations. For example the £1 million funding which the council secured, in partnership with the PCT, for Healthy Living in Islington is being spent through the Octopus network of community organisations (which, incidentally, was created as a result of the council's encouragement to them to work together with some funding provided by the purpose.) We have accessed European funding to create a new network of community organisations delivering the Reflex project which supports organisations helping people from black and ethnic minority communities to set up new businesses.

we also spend a substantial amount of the council's budget supporting community based organisations and enabling them to deliver a wide range of services to their communities. The council spends more than £4 million annually through Regeneration and Education alone on a wide range of services for local people through community organisations ranging from childcare to youth work to mother tongue classes to community arts to services for newly arrived communities.