Liz McIntyre

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Welcome

• Liz McIntyre
• Vice-Chair, Local Strategic Partnership
• Chair, Bath and North East Somerset Learning
  Partnership
• Principal, City of Bath College

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Format of day
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• Councillor Paul Crossley
• Chair Local Strategic Partnership

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Welcome

• Councillor Paul
• Crossley
• Chair, Local Strategic
• Partnership
• Leader, Bath North East Somerset Council

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Bath and North East Somersets Local Strategic
Partnership

• Aims to meet local needs by promoting partnership
  working.
• Has members from public services, voluntary,
  community and business sectors
• Developed the Community Strategy
• The public are welcome to attend LSP meetings

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The Community Strategy

• 10-year ambitions for the area
• EG- Promoting a sense of place so people
  identify with and take pride in their
  communities.
• Many good initiatives going on
• Included in the Community Strategy under relevant
  ambitions

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Crystal Mark
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So- why be local?

• To make life easier for people and organisations
  by
• celebrating and sharing good practice to help
  stop reinventing the wheel
• providing time-saving tools to support local
  initiatives
• linking you to the latest initiatives relevant to
  local working
• To thank people and recognise their work

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• Andy Thomas
• Bath North East Somerset Council

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More about the Community Strategy

• 10-year ambitions
• 42 early actions to progress the strategy (of
  which this conference is one)
• Clear ways of measuring success
• Progress monitored by the LSP
• Building on good practice

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Community Strategy Improvement Ambitions
www.beintouch.org.uk
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Community Strategy Shared Ambitions
Distinctive Safe Sustainable Creative Inclusive
www.beintouch.org.uk
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Our Values

• The LSP aims to be
• Responsive - to the current needs of the area and
  to future challenges
• Focused - on what is important, making sure
  things get done
• Connected - so we can harness the commitment of
  local communities
• Influential - so local concerns really do shape
  what happens

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In particular, we can improve

• How we share and act on information about the
  area
• How we learn from successes (and failures)
• How local priorities influence wider policies

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The be local toolkit

• Practical tools for helping us be more
• Responsive Getting a better understanding of
  what our communities want and need
• Focused Making sure things get
  done- and measured
• Connected Encouraging collaboration across
  the area
• Influential Convincing others of our case
  (eg at regional level)

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Responsive

• Effective consultation
• Parish and other local profiles

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Focused

• Some ready-made indicators of local quality of
  life (Liveability Scorecard)
• Universal Adaptor- to link up plans and
  activities

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Connected

• Partnership map
• Improved networking

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Influential

• How we link to the region and beyond

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• Councillor
• Paul Crossley

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The Future

• More influence- e.g. with region and nationally
• More collaboration
• IT networks
• Conferences
• More joint funding bids
• Improved local services
• Bath and North East Somersets reputation for
  strong partnerships grows
• Strong, self-confident, communities

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Key Message
Purpose
Purpose
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• Enjoy the day!
• Learn and share!
• Let us know what you think!

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• QUIZ

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BE local Putting the Local into the LSP

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Background

• Community Strategy
• Vital Villages Programme

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Current Initiatives in Area

• Complete coverage
• Parish planning post
• Implementation
• action planning, monitoring
• Council funding
• S106
• SEEDA Rural Towns
• Linkages to Community Plan

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Responsive

• Community Strategy Vital Villages
• LSP WBC promoted scheme
• PPs inclusive by definition
• Problems
• consistency
• links to strategic
• Youth consultation
• Learning points
• involve others in Action Plan prep
• advice to support the process
• different people for different roles

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Focused

• Key issues long standing
• PC Member responsible for each topic
• Problems
• lack of funding - reduces motivation
• volunteers less committed to implementation
• Learning Points
• establish implementation team

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Connected

• LSP wide approach
• P Plan involved HA, PCT, Network Rail, Thames
  Trains and LSP
• Problems
• Parish small player limited influence
• CA grant funding

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Connected contd

• Learning points
• effective communication
• establish regular dialogue
• dedicated resource
• commitment to implementation from the start

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Influential

• Owned by key organisations and service players
• Walking the talk - ongoing commitment
• Consistent messages jointly owned
• Available resources
• A quality document with sound foundations
• Pangbourne businesses working together

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Influential contd

• Problems
• nothing significant
• Learning Points
• the above

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Conclusions

• Worthwhile project
• commitment from talented residents builds
  community spirit
• actions achieved
• more to do
• PPs chimed with the political landscape
• PPs articulate community aspirations
• PPs at the right place at the right time
• PPs have helped engender multi-agency working

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Conclusions contd

• PPs - Community Strategy - theory not yet
  practice
• Resource hungry - management and communication
• Implementation critical for longevity
• Local aspirations are often realistic - early
  hits
• Its about outputs not plans - but the process
  brings benefits

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BE local The Norton Radstock Experience

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Background
Closure of Railways and Mines. Factory
Closures. Under-investment. Facilities -
poor/lack of. Distrust and pessimism Strong
community. Great potential.
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Current Initiatives in Area

• Funded Fixed Term Programme
• SRB Scheme
• 2.9m grant
• 6 year programme
• completed 2003
• Community Company
• Norton Radstock Regeneration Company.
• Formed through the SRB Scheme
• Not-for-profit.
• Stakeholder Specially Skilled Members.
• Community Plan
• Market Coastal Towns Initiative.
• Strategic Plan - basis for brokering solutions.

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Responsive
Government Programmes Needs Resources Top-down
Bottom-up Information

• Case Study Actions
• Community Planning
• Employing Local People
• Community Chest
• Partnership Structure

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Responsive

• Issues
• SRB - distrust
• - late in process
• - pressure to deliver
• NRR - resources
• - openess/commercial sensitivity
• MCTi - community lead/agency roles

• Learning Points
• Plan and involve at outset
• Enable community to come together air views
• Good Information
• Bottom-up and Top-down
• Clear and accessible partnership working
  arrangements
• Involvement at different levels and in different
  ways
• Specialist skills and stakeholders

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Focused

• Funding bid Baseline Position Targets
• Asset control
• Strategic Community Plan
• Insufficient data
• Inadequate resources
• Bureaucracy and rules
• Time/delivery pressures
• Partners Response

Case Study Actions
Issues
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Focused

• Learning Points
• Objectives and workplan
• Evidence based approach - share data
  intelligence
• Question/clarify rules
• Properly resource
• Link to mainstream
• Mentor demystify
• Involve partners early - be clear about input
• Early projects
• Give power and resources to partnerships/initiativ
  es

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Connected

• Partnership Board/Topic Group Structure
• Hands-on Working Groups
• Regeneration Fair

Case Study Actions
Issues

• Resourcing the partnership groups
• Too many initiatives
• Too many meetings

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Connected

• Learning Points
• Resources for partnership working and planning
• Share resource burden
• Rationalise partnership arrangements - link to
  LSP
• Virtual partnerships - IT
• Joint working - one consultation, one plan

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Influential
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Influential

• Learning Points
• Access to funding
• Clear and sound strategy
• Good projects
• Ability to facilitate delivery
• Enable partners to fulfil their objectives
• Face to face contacts

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Conclusions

• Understand community needs
• Uncover opportunities
• Make things happen
• Shared intelligence and data
• Local knowledge skills professional expertise
• Clear objectives and strategy
• Effective and efficient partnership working
  arrangements
• Creative approach to delivery

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The Journal 24th September 2004 Sun Shines
Everyday All is Well in Norton Radstock
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Some Prompts for Discussion

• Collaborative working/influencing the mainstream
• what is the role and power of local partnerships?
• how can we achieve things that require completely
  new approaches?
• How can we jointly identify needs and agree
  priorities?
• How can we make partnership working efficient,
  comprehensible and accessible?
• ..

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BE local The Bath South Local Committee pilot

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Background
An initiative to pilot local decision making by
local elected councillors in local venues and
welcoming local people
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The area

• Wards of Combe Down, Lyncombe, Odd Down,
  Oldfield, Southdown, Twerton and Westmoreland
  collectively Bath South
• Committee comprises the local councillors for
  that area
• 13 Liberal Democrat Councillors 1 Conservative
  Councillor

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Objective

• That the Committee provides an opportunity for
  local people to hear about local schemes and
  projects and to engage with the Council and other
  agencies
• - to get the best for Bath South

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Responsive

• local planning decisions
• spending a local highways budget
• debating local issues
• listening to and informing local people
• engaging with local community groups
• a consultee on behalf of local people

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Focused

• Each meeting based in a different ward and
  therefore has that local focus (but not to
  exclusion of whole area issues)
• Will sometimes include a local project group
  presentation

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Connected

• Part of measurement of success will be degree of
  connectivity people feel with area and extent
  to which they feel local committee has fostered
  that
• Opportunity for local people to come together and
  identify mutual concerns
• Councillors will identify how it has helped local
  leadership and representation role
• We keep in touch if people want this!

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Influential

• Lobbying Council on behalf of the area
• A structured "surgery" opportunity for the
  public/community
• Adjoining ward influence/interests e.g. Combe
  Down/Lyncombe
• Local accountability 

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Critical

• Formality does not sit easily with engagement!
• Public involvement takes time!
• Supporting community leadership role
• Raising expectations
• Does not test out Parish dimension
• Council decision re future
• How local is local?

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Conclusions

• Early days to draw conclusions
• Mid term review by Councillors
• Attendees views will be sought
• Success requires effort
• Creativity generates interest

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Feedback

• Janice Fortune
• Member, Local Strategic Partnership
• Chief Officer, Bath North East Somerset CVS

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Findings of Day

• Regeneration
• Issue community involvement
• Solution customise approach to audience
• What is needed from LSP?
• Signposting to relevant data

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Findings of Day

• Town and Parish Planning
• Issue turning the local into strategic
• Solution effective links to LSP
• What is needed from LSP?
• Bridging guidance

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Findings of Day

• Community Safety and Social Inclusion
• Issue limited access to services due to
  problems with transport
• Solution localised initiatives
• What is needed from LSP?
• Bring all transport providers together

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Next Steps

• Report written and distributed
• Respond to any needs identified
• Contact database developed and distributed
• Partnership map developed and distributed
• Community toolkit developed and distributed

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Drop-in session

• Community toolkit
• Ideas washing line
• Liveability Scorecard
• Community Strategy
• Community Safety consultation

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