In 2006 Steve Evison and Neil Smith provided specialist assistance to the The Community Development Challenge Group, working for DCLG.

Working under the guidance of Gabriel Chanan of CDF (seconded to the Home Office), Steve and Neil provided specialist assistance to the CDC group.

The outcome is a report aimed at "Central, local and regional government policy makers involved in community development or who develop policies that seek to involve citizens in public decisions or the delivery of services. People working in the community development field, including community development bodies."

The Government is increasingly seeking to involve citizens in public decisions and Community Development (CD) plays an important role in the implementation of these policies.

This report looks at the current state of CD and assesses what steps might be necessary to raise its profile and effectiveness. The Community Development Foundation was commissioned to write the report. They  set up a working group of key stakeholders in the CD field. The working party met six times and collected a wide variety of evidence to produce this report.

To download a copy of the report, visit our Online Resources > Publications page (use the top menu to reach it), or visit the communities.gov website - www.communities.gov.uk.