In our last social viewpoint we took a look at what constituted social exclusion and examined the feelings of the groups most at risk. We found an under-culture residing in some of Britain's poorest estates. Places where estate cultural norms and not the law determined levels of acceptable behaviour. Those most at risk from this social malaise saw the situation as worse that at any time in living memory and regarded the actions and legacies of previous governments as seriously flawed.

In a week when Blair's government has announced new measures to tackle the problem we take a look at the initiatives to find out if this government is really looking for a new approach, or simply providing us with an election gimmick.

Tony Blair and his not quite so merry band of followers head for the election with many issues unresolved in the mind of the voter. One area where the left has always prided itself, is as the champion of the poorest and most excluded social groups. But Blair starts the New Year with a very cloudy hanging over social policy and much doubt over whether previous and existing schemes to alleviate the problems have really worked.

A recent report from the Joseph Rowntree Organisation has presented a mixed picture. Analysis of 50 poverty indicators showed that while 17 had improved over recent years, 9 had worsened. Key indicators offer evidence that 14m adults live in households with less than half the national average income, a figure which has more than doubled since the heady days of the early 80's. Eight million of these adults have income which is less than 40% of national averages.

A little respite is provided by the most recent figures published, showing some improvement in education and falling unemployment. Unfortunately, huge inequalities in health still exist, especially for families of manual workers and the unemployed. Children of such citizens are more likely to die in an accident and the females twice as likely to become teenage mothers.

This all presents a gloomy picture for the government on the eve of a general election and as the shadow security secretary stated, it showed "devastating evidence of the gap between Labour's rhetoric on poverty and the grim reality".

But wait, just in the nick of time the smooth-running Blair machine churns out a new set of policies and initiatives, with the announcement that, "The approach on the left for too long was too top down and that every problem could be solved by promising more money." He added that, "The chief failure on the right was indifference to social exclusion, a massive mistake for which we are still paying."

So are the current set of measures really any different to their predecessors? We investigate what the plans are and whether they really do herald a new approach.

The Social Exclusion Unit (SEU) reported in 1998 that there have been eight national programmes attempting to rejuvenate disadvantaged urban areas in the past 30 years. And at the end of it, all we have is worse depravation in more highly concentrated areas and a wider gap than ever between the haves and have-nots. Last week Labour announced a ninth attempt, working closely with the 88 local authorities where 840 of the poorest and most deprived wards reside. This figure of 840 wards accounts for 10% of the total number of wards, emphasising the size of the job.

As cynical as many of us can be (myself included), it appears that this is more than just an election gimmick. Much thought and careful planning has gone into this policy. Following on from the 1998 SEU report the government has utilised 18 separate taskforces, produced a consultative white paper and then formulated a national strategy. Whitehall at last seem aware of the task ahead and it's not just the poorest areas which will benefit, the national strategy will be both crucial and beneficial for the whole economy.

In a country that is already overcrowded and acutely short of land we must utilise all the space we have already colonised. The recent Urban White Paper highlighted the problems facing planners and developers. Poor amenities and accessibility, besides the lack of clean air, all contribute to the 45,000 people who leave London each year. All this has a negative effect on the countryside as more people leave inner cities empty and propagate the doughnut effect, where the semi-suburban sprawl pushes further into our sacred greenbelts. The aim of the latest policies is to keep town and country separate while addressing the needs and protecting the heartbeat of both. A novel approach in which the regeneration of deprived areas and the utilisation of unused 'brownfied' sites should contribute to eradicating social exclusion, protect the countryside and bring a renaissance to cities across the country.

The government has gone right to the root of the problems and tried to reinvent itself and its relationship with communities and social groups. A new philosophy has emerged where the government will work as a partner - not a master - to local authorities and communities in an attempt to transform the culture in disadvantaged areas and end social exclusion.

And to do this Labour are looking at the issues collectively, starting with education. As Mr Blunkett told the European Social Policy Forum in Brussels, the root cause lies in educational failure.

In his keynote speech to social policy makers, Mr Blunkett said: "We cannot afford social exclusion in Europe, it generates huge costs in the form of crime, ill-health, welfare dependency, social breakdown and dislocation." In the United Kingdom, 68% of school-age children sentenced for criminal offences had either persistently played truant or already been excluded from school while four in ten street robberies and a third of burglaries in London were committed by children aged 10-16 and usually during school hours.

To help prevent this there would be a new approach to intervene and tackle problems before adulthood. Mr Blunkett continued, "In the United Kingdom many of the problems of social exclusion start in the school years. When the education system fails young people it sows the seeds of criminality, drug taking, unemployment and all the other forms of marginalisation from society." It has been duly noted that such failures only serve to reinforce social exclusion and highlights the need for good educational standards.

For the first time, measures will involve an interesting mix of central and devolved powers where each of the 840 wards targeted will formulate an action plan. All mainstream services including education, health and employment with be set specific targets by Whitehall, and provided with help to achieve them by 2004.

For schools, this will involve 25% of students achieving at least five GCSE's and grade C or above. For housing, one third of sub-standard housing will have to be repaired by the same date and no area will have a burglary rate more than three times above the national average.

Social reformers have tried to "bend" mainstream services to help the poor for years, but accountability until now has stopped at local level. The government has decided it's time to try something different. Just where precise responsibility lies between local and Whitehall has still to be clarified.

At the local level each area will appoint a strategic partnership involving all public services plus private and voluntary sector representation. Below them, there will be neighbourhood boards and in 30 wards on a trial basis, neighbourhood managers. A novel approach, providing communities with a face to turn to when problems arise, hopefully someone who has the clout to tackle them.

Mr Blair said the most important aspect was the abandonment of the top-down approach to regeneration taken since the 1950s. "It was expensive, it offered some short-term improvement, but it never took root. Many inner city areas became even worse."

More resources will also be offered to communities that take responsibility for how the money will be spent, giving control over budgets to improve policing, education, health and the environment to the tune of £130 million above the £800 million already pledged over the next three years. The government will take a caring but tough stance, with communities expected to play a leading role in their development and get "something for something".

The whole ideology and philosophy behind the new approach appears refreshing. But there has already been discord from some areas. Especially frustrating are the timescales involved. Even the SEU concedes progress is slow. It has also emerged that the neighbourhood managers will not start until the end of the year and only in 15 of the 88 eligible areas.

In an unsurprising retort, the shadow environment secretary, Archie Norman, said the neighbourhood managers proposal was "ill thought through". He said "The managers appear to have no real powers. Neighbourhood involvement requires empowering local communities, not just appointing salaried busybodies."

Don Foster, the Liberal Democrat environment spokesman, described the proposals as an action replay of policies over the past thirty years.

Tony Blair, on the other hand, spoke of two lessons his policymakers have learned. First, the mistake of tackling social problems in isolation: "You can spend money on housing, but if the schools aren't good and crime is rife, the housing soon deteriorates." The second, which is important for this centralising government, is that Whitehall can offer to help local areas trying to rebuild their communities, but it cannot do it for them.

A long road stands before all of us, but hopefully a different one to the downhill road we've been on for the past 30 years.