Reversing economic decline
- Published: 23 July 2008 11:35
- Author: Kathy Oxtoby
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- Last Updated: 23 July 2008 11:44
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Councils are overcoming problems with local strategic partnerships and local area agreements.
Take a holistic approach
Wakefield MDC, which was shortlisted for a Beacon award, takes a holistic approach to delivering its local service agreements. Rather than looking at individuals and the issues they face in isolation, their families and neighbourhoods are also taken into consideration.
"In the past there was a tendency to focus on dealing with, say, anti-social behaviour and how it affects the individual," explains Peter Turgoose, the council's service manager for partnerships and communities. "Now we're trying to factor in their social networks and where they live to get a more accurate reflection of how people live their lives."
By thinking about people in the context of their families and communities, Mr Turgoose says the council has been able to develop effective ways of tackling issues like domestic abuse. 'Safe at Home' is a multi-agency service where the council, primary care trust (PCT) and police combine resources to target the problem.
This holistic service supports victims and their families, and also tries to address the causes of violent behaviour by the perpetrators.
Mr Turgoose says this combined approach has reduced the proportion of repeat offenders from 50% to 35% in two years. "When you consider that in Wakefield there are 5,000 offences a year, this all-inclusive service has clearly had a big impact on violent crime," he says.
Promote wellbeing
Wellbeing is at the heart of South Tyneside MBC's local area agreement. "If someone is working, if they feel safe where they live and they have opportunities, then they will be happier," says the council's local strategic partnership manager Hugh McShane .
Rather than the traditional four policy areas (young people, safer and stronger communities, healthier communities and economic development) the LAA has been developed around a broader theme of wellbeing. This has helped the LSP implement a bottom-up approach to delivering the LAA and its agreed outcomes, Mr McShane believes.
"We don't have a whole load of service providers telling people what's good for them. We are listening to what people want. Everything we do is based on what we've learned by consulting with residents."
Relationships between partners are strong. The LSP's priorities include children and young people, safer and stronger communities and culture. The chairs of the group for each priority area meet every six weeks to inform each other about their activities. In doing so, the groups identify how they can assist each other to help the community.
The value of this strategy is proven. For example, South Tyneside had one of the highest teenage conception rates in the country. Through a partnership approach involving the local PCT, education authorities and youth service, its teenage conception rates are now below the national average.
"Teenage pregnancy is not just a health issue — it's also an inclusion issue, because a young person might feel excluded from their community. And it's about education, because when young women get pregnant we want to keep them in the school system to help them to be the best they can be," says Mr McShane.
Trust between partners has also been invaluable, he says, and was evident when the council put its case to the Improvement & Development Agency board, leading to it
winning a Beacon award. "The partners really respect each other, and they also challenge each other. But they are all united around the same thing — a better South Tyneside for its people," says Mr McShane.
Involve the voluntary sector
Voluntary and community sector partners have played a vital role in helping Cornwall's county and district councils tackle longstanding problems, and led to them being shortlisted for a Beacon award. A manager of a local Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB), for example, helped instigate setting up the Real Choices project, designed to address child poverty in rural parts of Cornwall.
Cornwall's rural population is scattered across the countryside, which makes it difficult to identify those who are living in poverty. A partnership approach, where information is shared between the CAB, Job Centre Plus and the district councils' housing departments, means that the partners are able to pinpoint who needs their help. Because that population does not fit into a neat geographic ward, the scheme has created 'virtual wards' where the LSP can target its services.
Now the LSP, which includes a child poverty co-ordinator, is looking at how to provide services for these residents.
"We're reaching out to those people who tend not to be picked up in statistics," says Janet Popham , programme manager for the Cornwall LAA.
"We're particularly grateful for the voluntary sector's contribution. It's not easy for voluntary groups in Cornwall. These are relatively small organisations with limited funding — but there's a lot of commitment," Ms Popham says.
Create a shared vision
Partnership working in Leeds hangs together by what the council calls a "golden thread". This means that objectives are cascaded down through departments, services and teams to an individual level. Following that "thread" down from community or corporate objectives helps staff understand how their day-to-day activities are changing people's lives for the better.
"The 'golden thread' approach means that everyone is thinking about a particular vision and how to achieve it," says Jane Stageman , Leeds City Council's senior policy manager.
The council's vision for improving young peoples' lives involves an innovative children's trust model. A range of partners, including agencies such as the youth service, the PCT, the police and voluntary and community sector organisations, come together to develop strategies and commission services that take into account the whole range of young peoples' needs in order to enhance their quality of life.
The partners take a preventative approach by aiming to identify problems early on. A system to share data among the different agencies is being developed to help pinpoint
potential difficulties, so that no child can fall through the net, says Ms Stageman.
The children's trust model also features a performance management panel which regularly meets to gather information about what results are being achieved then gives feedback, including what service improvements should be made.
Prior to developing this shared model to support young people, a "substantial number" were missing school. In just six months that number has halved.
This ability to deliver ambitious and sustainable solutions made the LSP a Beacon winner — a success which Ms Stageman attributes to "having a simple shared vision and being able to work in an open and challenging environment".
Work with local businesses
Croydon LBC's close relationship with local businesses is a key part of its LSP. Since the early 1990s it has sought the expertise of local businesses on a variety of issues — including projects not usually associated with the private sector.
The Family Justice Centre, for example, is a fully integrated service for domestic abuse victims, but it has business people on its advisory board, while the agencies involved in the scheme all work together in a private sector building.
Meanwhile, Croydon works with businesses on issues like reducing their environmental footprints. The council has also launched an economic development strategy which sets out its aspirations over the next 10 years, which was put together with its business sector colleagues.
Recently the council won a partnership bid for £77m of local enterprise growth initiative money to spend on enterprise regeneration work. Damian Roberts , director of partnership, business and community, says the funds were awarded due to "our track record of working closely with private sector colleagues".
Mr Roberts says: "There is a significant link between business success and the success of our local communities. It means the council is able to bring economic growth and
prosperity to the borough, to enable our local population to access jobs and all the benefits of a thriving economy."
He adds: "What they get from us is a switched-on, business-friendly public sector which can create an environment where businesses can grow and thrive."
The council's efforts won it a Beacon award, something Mr Roberts says the council is "extremely proud of".
He says: "And the award is also a springboard for us to be even more ambitious about what we can achieve in the future — it has given us the confidence to set our goals even higher."
