Scrutiny of Local Strategic Partnerships

1. Scrutiny of Local Strategic Partnerships Effective Overviewand Scrutiny

2. Programme 10 mins Introductions 20 mins Presentation: Understanding Local Strategic Partnerships 30 mins Activity: Understanding your Local Strategic Partnership 20 mins Presentation: Partnership and scrutiny 20 mins Activity: Partnership scrutiny in practice 10 mins Review and evaluation

3. Learning outcomes • Understand the main elements of Local Strategic Partnerships and related sub-partnerships, including local arrangements • Understand the main elements of Local Area Agreements, including local arrangements • Relate the main roles of overview and scrutiny to the scrutiny of LSPs • Identify key challenges for scrutiny of LSPs

4. Understanding Local Strategic Partnerships • A single, multi-agency partnership body matching council boundaries • Includes council(s), other public services, private, voluntary and community sector • Provides co-ordination, liaison and agreement of joint priorities, including Sustainable Community Strategy and Local Area Agreement • Often has Board plus wider membership which meets less often • Not required by law

5. Sub-partnerships • LSPs generally have a structure of thematic partnerships • Examples likely to include: Children’s Trust, Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership, health partnership • Others could include: environment, culture, economic development, transport

6. Main roles of LSP • Supports development and implementation of Sustainable Community Strategy, creating vision and identifying key priorities for the area as a whole • Develops Local Area Agreement and co-ordinates achievement of its aims • Co-ordinates sub-partnerships, and possibly area/neighbourhood links

7. Sustainable Community Strategy • A long term vision for the area, backed with action planning to achieve it • Should promote the economic, social and environmental well-being of the area and contribute to sustainable development • Should be agreed by the council and the LSP • Should relate to Local Development Framework • Needs widespread community and partner involvement in development

8. Other key strategies involving the LSP and its sub-partnerships • Crime and Disorder Reduction Strategy • Children and Young People’s Plan • Strategic needs assessment for health and social care • Could be others such as transport plan

9. The new Local Area Agreements • Local Area Agreements: a plan at the centrepiece of partnership working, implementing your community strategy, partner organisations with a new ‘duty to co-operate • New statutory framework: Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 • New Local Area Agreements to run from 2008-11 • Councils knowing what you want to achieve for your place; influencing others to help make this happen: community leadership • A ‘single conversation’ with government: the only place targets can be negotiated with local government • National Indicator Set: 198 issues which must be measured, up to 35 where targets are agreed

10. The council must . . . • This is the role of the county council in two tier areas • Prepare and negotiate a draft LAA • In preparing it, consult partners who have a duty to co-operate, plus others • Negotiate local improvement targets with partners and government, some to be designated by government • Co-operate with partners to implement the LAA • Exercise powers of scrutiny in relation to LAA targets (with districts in two tier areas)

11. The partner authorities . . . • The partner authorities have a duty to co-operate with the council leading the LAA and must: • Negotiate and agree improvement targets • Have regard in exercising its functions, to any relevant improvement target • Take part in council scrutiny in relation to relevant improvement targets

12. Arts Council The Broads Authority Chief Officer of Police District authorities English Heritage The Environment Agency Fire and rescue authorities Health and Safety Executive The Highways Agency Jobcentre Plus Joint Waste Authorities Joint Waste Disposal Authorities The Learning and Skills Council in England Local Probation Boards Metropolitan Passenger Transport Authorities Museums, Libraries and Archives Council National Park Authorities Natural England NHS Foundation Trusts NHS Health Trusts Police authorities Primary Care Trusts Probation Trusts and other providers of probation services Regional Development Agencies Sport England Transport for London Youth Offending Teams Any other added by the Secretary of State, by Order The organisations with a ‘duty to co-operate’

13. The engagement of councillors in Local Area Agreements • Leadership: of the council, the place, and the partnership • Strategy development: How can the Local Area Agreement be used to tackle the area’s top priorities? • New scrutiny powers in relation to LAA • Community and neighbourhood representation: building up from local needs

14. Activity 1 Understanding yourLocal Strategic Partnership

15. Partnership and scrutiny • Vital that the work of scrutiny adds value and improvement • Better outcomes: improve the work of the partnership, find new ways to tackle problems, improve strategies through wider engagement • Better processes: improve how the LSP works, enhance LSP openness, improve councillor engagement with LSP

16. Scrutiny powers and Local Area Agreements • Scrutinise local improvement targets (LAA targets) • Require information from partner organisations signed up to LAA targets • Require them to ‘have regard to’ scrutiny recommendations which relate to a relevant local improvement target • Police covered by different legal framework for scrutiny, but engagement in LAA can still be scrutinised

17. Main roles of overview and scrutiny • Holding to account • Performance management • Policy review • Policy development • External scrutiny These roles can be applied to scrutiny of LSPs

18. Holding to account • Provide democratic input into non-council services • Create greater openness of partnerships • Scrutiny can provide a means for community and user engagement with partnerships • Ensure LSP structures and working is fit for purpose

19. Performance management • Review implementation of Sustainable Community Strategy and other partnership strategies • Investigate performance failures from LSPs • Scrutiny of implementation of Local Area Agreements • Scrutiny of the council’s contribution to partnership work including LAA

20. Policy development and review • Contribute to the development of the Sustainable Community Strategy, Local Area Agreement, and related strategies • In depth investigation of topics involving partnership work • Reviewing particular problems of partnership work • Reviews of LSP work from a particular perspective such as sustainability

21. Legal basis for partnership scrutiny • Local Government Act 2000: can look at any matter which affects the area or its inhabitants • Health and Social Care Act 2001: gives power to scrutinise NHS services • Police and Justice Act 2006: gives power to scrutinise Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships: not yet implemented • Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 gives powers to scrutinise agencies signed up to LAA targets

22. Key challenges for scrutiny of LSPs • Enhance the democratic leadership of partnerships • Help to build, not undermine, effective partnership work • Add value through scrutiny role • Improve the performance of partnerships • Widen community and user engagement with partnerships and services beyond the council

23. Activity 2 Partnership scrutiny in practice – scrutiny of the Local Area Agreement

24. Review and evaluation • In pairs, discuss the main learning points for you from the module • Complete the evaluation sheet and return it to the facilitator