With funding for wardens under threat, James Hughes looks at alternative ways to pay
There are about 210 warden schemes in the UK. Eighty-five are neighbourhood warden programmes, which work in deprived urban areas and aim to deter antisocial behaviour; and 123 are street warden schemes, which deal with graffiti and vandalism in town centres. For the past three years, funding has been provided by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister – but that cash will run out next March (HT 16 May, page 7) and the responsibility will be passed over to local councils.

This has revealed just how unprepared some councils have been over the issue of paying for their schemes. Many new and existing warden schemes will have to find alternative sources of cash.

What you will need to pay for
Neighbourhood wardens' salaries can be as high as £26,000. And, for their own safety, wardens must be properly trained. Getting wardens ready to go on the streets is therefore an expensive process and it's difficult to cut corners; however, all hope is not lost. It's going to be much more difficult to find the money but with a little imagination it should still be possible.

Who's going to pay for it?
The ODPM should still be the first port of call for any council department or registered social landlord setting up a warden scheme. It will give advice on setting it up and paying for it.

Mainstream council funds should replace the ODPM as the primary funder of warden schemes but it may be difficult finding out exactly what department should support your scheme. If it's the housing department, the most likely area will be the housing revenue account. You can bolster your case for receiving HRA cash by surveying tenants to find out how important wardens would be to them.

Lambeth council in south London, for instance, is about to start a scheme with four wardens in July and is getting most of its funds from the HRA kitty. "The scheme been well received and has quite high priority in our HRA because the residents want it," says Gerard Cauker, head of the housing management client unit at Lambeth. "We've decided to focus on problem areas, and not spread the wardens too thin, which has really cut expense."

It might also be worth speaking to the environmental department, as many of the neighbourhood wardens deal with environmental issues such as graffiti and vandalism. You could also try the crime and disorder department, fire service and the police.

Back at Whitehall, the New Deal for Communities has £240m left to spend.

Any warden project in one of the 39 areas it covers should apply.

You might also be able to get a share of the £5.7bn of Single Regeneration Budget cash that is still available. Contact your regional development agency for details. Plus, the Community Empowerment Fund has provided at least £300,000 each to 88 of the worst deprived areas in the UK.

Another option is Business Improvement Districts, where local businesses pay higher rates to improve services such as street cleaning, landscaping or crime reduction.

And residents themselves may also be willing to contribute: the board of Willow Park Housing Trust in Manchester asked residents if they wanted to have a 25p a week rise in rent and keep the wardens, or not – tenants voted in favour.

Back-up
What money can't buy, though, is the vital relationships with the community your wardens will work in. John Deer, community enforcement manager at Sutton council in south London, says: "People must feel that they can approach a warden and knowing the people well in the area can really help with the job." Choosing the right people to be wardens is the only way to get the relationships that will make the scheme cost-effective. "The job requires a diverse variety of skills, such as patience, good people skills, an ability to analyse situations, strong leadership and so on," says Sophie Walker, project manager at north London's Camden council and in charge of the warden scheme there. It's best to recruit from the local area and many schemes make a particular effort to find wardens from particular ethnic backgrounds.