Part of 2. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children – in the Senedd at 2:21 pm on 20 September 2017.
Well, empowerment is certainly about local people having an involvement in the decision-making processes as we move forward, and that’s why public services boards and the future generations Act have a very close link to engagement with all communities and individuals that they have a stake in, moving forward. I think the whole principle of the three Es is an exciting one for communities. What we did realise is that Communities First hasn’t worked as well as it was designed to do in terms of lifting communities out of poverty. I think it’s done a great job of stopping communities getting poorer, but we have to have a game changer here, and the new programmes that we have in place and the support mechanisms around that, I believe, will be the experience that local communities will want to achieve, going forward.