Evaluation of Westminster's Community Priorities Programme

The Community Priorities Programme is a pilot programme funded by the Public Health Department at Westminster City Council and delivered by the council’s Communities Department with the initial aim of strengthening community resilience in the north of the borough, specifically in Queen’s Park, Westbourne, Harrow Road and Church Street wards.

The programme funds a series of community-led initiatives whose specific priorities and criteria are set by the outcomes of meaningful resident research and engagement. This was carried out by locally-based community development officers from the council with a wide range of residents in spring 2021.

The objectives of this research and engagement were:

• To understand residents’ in-depth experiences and views of their local communities in North Westminster
• To understand the unmet needs of residents in North Westminster and the nature of the community that residents want to live in
• To begin identifying priority areas to help form the building blocks of the North Westminster Programme
• To build trust with residents and create a network of people to join us on the full journey of this programme

Following this research four criteria were developed based on residents’ priorities and aspirations for their local communities:

• Empowering young people
• Enabling all adults to progress
• Building connections between people
• Making places safe and welcoming

A full evaluation of the programme is needed to be delivered from present (May 2022) to February 2023, with full completion due March 2023. The evaluation should include some qualitative research and should be in line with the programme’s approach and ethos around co-production and collaboration with communities.

We want to explore the outcomes of investing in this approach (namely the community research, engagement and relationship building that informed the foundations of the programme) and we want to explore the specific public health outcomes of the projects subsequently delivered under the programme, particularly in relation to reducing health inequalities, using the relevant Marmot indicators as a framework for this.