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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine Communities First, an area‐based regeneration policy in Wales to explore the barriers to community empowerment. Three related research projects provide data to inform the discussion of community empowerment and to consider the implications of delivery of the policy for theorising the relationship between the citizen and the state as mediated through regeneration partnerships.Design/methodology/approachData from three related research projects are discussed. These are an evaluation of local delivery of the Communities First programme, the delivery of technical support to participating communities and a Joseph Rowntree‐funded case study of nine regeneration partnerships. All projects are concerned with exploring the experience of community members within regeneration partnerships.FindingsThe findings identify major barriers to the achievement of community empowerment including issues of community capacity, institutional capacity, organisational cultures and regulatory frameworks. The findings identify mechanisms for improving community participation and empowerment. The findings are also used to identify community actor agency within regeneration partnerships and to argue against an analysis of regeneration initiatives as a mechanism of social control and incorporation of community activism into a state led agenda.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper explores one specific policy within a UK devolved region and is not able to comment extensively on similar policy programmes in other areas of the UK. However, it uses this specific experience to comment on generic issues in the community empowerment field and to elaborate theory on the relationship between the citizen and the state.Practical implicationsThe paper offers practitioners and policy makers insight into the community experience of participation in regeneration partnerships and proposes methods and policy refinements which can improve empowerment outcomes and assist community participation to achieve higher levels of influence over statutory partners.Originality/valueWhile the paper identifies barriers to empowerment that are recognised in the wider literature, it demonstrates that such barriers can prevail even within a highly participative policy framework such as Communities First. The paper also provides evidence of a clear sense of agency on the part of community members of regeneration partnerships and counters models which suggest regeneration partnerships are simple mechanisms of social control which diffuse community activism.

PurposeRecent UK policies emphasise increased community participation in decision‐making. However, research points to an "implementation gap" whereby policy has not led to genuine community empowerment in practice. This paper aims to investigate community empowerment and influence over service providers brought about by the Communities First programme in Wales, a regeneration programme which aims to empower local communities.Design/methodology/approachThe research analyses nine Communities First partnerships with a mixture of interviews, focus groups and community‐led partnership reviews. The case studies reflect the rural/urban geography of Wales and the varied governance models evident in Communities First.FindingsThrough Communities First, residents feel empowered to manage positive change in their communities. However, key public agencies have not responded adequately to this policy agenda. Notably, there has been a failure to "bend" mainstream services.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings point to future research with public sector agencies to identify the exact points at which community "voice" is lost and how it could be better assimilated into policy development and service delivery mechanisms.Practical implicationsCommunity empowerment requires adequate training for development staff and support mechanisms for community participants. Roles of public sector organisations attending community partnerships need to be clearly defined. At an organisational level, incentives, including funding, and sanctions are needed in order to change ways of working.Originality/valueCommunities and public agencies face challenges in delivering the empowerment agenda. The research identifies key issues in achieving empowerment objectives by examining the eight‐year experience of the Communities First programme.