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- Partners' Conference 2011
- Local Area Agreement
- Multi Area Agreement
PARTNERS' CONFERENCE 2011
The Partners' Conference is an annual event for people who live and work in South Gloucestershire to come together to discuss key topics affecting the area. The event is hosted by the South Gloucestershire Partnership and this year delegates were welcomed to the conference by South Gloucestershire Council's Chief Executive, Amanda Deeks.
It was chaired by the Partnership's Chair Cllr. John Godwin with Tony Travers Director of the Greater London Group as guest speaker. The workshops were facilitated by
- Helen Black, Chief Executive of the Council for Voluntary Services South Glos. and Robert Walsh Head of Safer and Stronger Communties SGC (Community)
- Paul Rainger Forum for the Future and Jane Antrobus Sustainability Co-ordinator SGC (Sustainability)
- Melanie Gibbs Chair of NHS South Glos. Trust Board, Jon Edwards Centre Manager The Mall at Cribbs Causeway and Guy Stenson Community Care & Housing Service Manager SGC (Health)
- David Draycott Chair of Skills and Competitiveness Board West of England Partnership and Antony Merritt Economic Development Co-ordinator SGC.
Many thanks to all of them for their contribution to making the event so successful.
This year's Partners' Conference was held at UWE's Exhibition and Conference Centre - a prestigious, flexible and well-managed venue -
thanks to John Rusforth and UWE's generosity in supporting the event.
A big thank you also to all the staff involved for their professionalism and help in making the day run smoothly.
The keynote speech was given by Tony Travers. Tony is a director of the Greater London Group, a cross disciplinary research centre at the London School of Economics and Political Science studying the development, economy and social aspects of urban areas in Britain and overseas.
The title of Tony’s speech was Opportunities in a time of radical change.
He outlined the government’s policies in relation to deficit reduction and public sector reform and gave his considered views on the impacts on local communities. He finished by stressing the need for partnerships to continue work together to deliver the best possible services at a challenging time.
A Q & A session followed giving the audience the opportunity to benefit from Tony's local and central government knowledge.
His speech raised awareness among the 110 plus delegates - some of whom knew some of the story but few knew it all - and broadened their understanding of the whole picture. It provided a very useful foundation for the workshops which followed his speech which looked at
* how to promote the civil/big society and encourage community leadership,
* how to mainstream sustainability into all areas of our work,
* how joined up early intervention and prevention work could continue to make a real impact
and
* how economic priorities will continue to be delivered in the changed landscape.
The notes from the workshops are available at the following links:
Workshop A: Community
Workshop B: Sustainability
Workshop C: Health
Workshop D: Economy
The conference wound up with a plenary session to summarise key points from the discussions in the workshops with the general consensus being that the event had been a "useful networking and learning event." and delegates were motivated to put some of the practical ideas into practice (see individual workshop notes above).
Feedback from the delegates about the event highlighted the excellent facilities and catering - "Great location with good public transport access" - the content and delivery of the keynote speech - "Excellent, accessible, high-level clarification of the shifting economic landscape and the implications for S Glos. and UK" - and the usefulness of the discussions in the workshops - "Meeting a wide range of partners with very different attitudes was beneficial to broaden understanding of experiences".
If you would like any more information please contact Stephanie Kruse, Strategic Partnership Officer on 01454 863868 or at stephanie.kruse@southglos.gov.uk.
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Local Area Agreement: Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government) announced in his letter to Leaders of all Councils sent on 13th October 2010 that he was ending the Local Area Agreements (and not paying any of the anticipated reward grant), and replacing the National Indicator Set "with a single comprehensive list of all the data we expect local government to provide to central government." South Gloucesterhsire Partnership will be discussing the way forward in the near future and deciding what to do about the Local Area Agreement.
South Gloucestershire's Local Area Agreement (updated 2010)
Local area agreements (LAAs) signal a new relationship between central and local government. LAAs bring together the Government’s national standards and priorities (public service agreements PSAs) with local priorities informed by the vision developed by the local authority and its partners in the local strategic partnership (LSP). LAAs are the new mechanism to shape innovation and improvements in local services over the next three years; they are about building the sort of place people want to live in.
The development of the South Gloucestershire Local Area Agreement was the responsibility of the South Gloucestershire Partnership which comprises senior representatives of keystakeholders in the area including the Voluntary and Community sector, the Council, South Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust, Avon and Somerset Constabulary, business and the further education sector. Town and Parish Councils are also represented. Specific proposals have been drawn up in consultation with a range of local partners in negotiation with Government Office South West.
The new LAA replaces the previous one developed in 2003 which has now come to the end of its life. The ideas behind the new LAAs are to:
– recognise that ‘one size does not fit all’ and that local services should reflect what local people want;
– reduce red-tape and improve value for money;
– make local authorities and other public services more accountable to local people; and
– enable local people to get more involved in decisions about local services.
Each LAA captures up to 35 priorities chosen from a menu of 198 in the National Indicator Set; in addition to 16 statutory indicators for education and early years development, plus any local priorities decided on by the South Gloucestershire Partnership (SGP).
The choice of priorities are based on the SGP’s understanding of what matters to local people as identified in the Sustainable Community Strategy (South Gloucesterhshire 2026 - A great place to live and work).
South Gloucestershire’s new LAA has now been designated and approved formally by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on behalf of Government.
The priorities chosen are also published on a new public website: www.localpriorities.communities.gov.uk
Agreeing the LAA means that everyone in our area is now working towards an agreed set of priorities. From June 2008, local partners will be working towards the targets they have set in the LAA and local people will be able to see what the Council and its partners plan to do in the area. They will also be able to check how well things are going because this information will be publicly available through the council’s own channels and on the Local Priorities website.
What local people think about the place they live in will be the subject of a new Place Survey, which will ask them about their perceptions of an area. Whereas previous surveys carried out by local authorities (such as the Best Value Performance Indicator satisfaction surveys) focused on the council and its services, this survey looks at local people’s experience of living in a place. The aim is to focus on outcomes - such as whether people feel safe and healthy, and are engaged in their local community.
The survey will enable the Council and its partners to build up a picture, over time, of how local residents view the area in which they live. By measuring people’s perceptions, and how these change over time, local agencies will be able to track whether interventions they have made are having a real impact on the lives of local people.
Key Documents
Local Area Agreement updated 2010
LAA and SCS six monthly progress report January 2010.pdf
Archived Documents
Local Area Agreement 2007
Local Area Agreement 2006
Annual Peformance Report 2007/08
Annual Peformance Report 2006/07
(If you have any queries or comments, please contact the Strategic Planning and Partnerships Team on 01454 8635433 or via strategicplanning@southglos.gov.uk)
Local Area Agreement 2008 - 2011 – How Are We Performing?
PB Views is a software solution that streamlines the collection, reporting and presentation of performance information. It has been adopted as the council’s corporate performance management system and is being used to monitor the Local Area Agreement.
What can PB Views do in terms of the LAA?
- The system acts as a single source of all the LAA performance indicators
- Users have an immediate, real-time picture of LAA performance information
- Traffic light colour index highlights areas of good performance and where there are areas that need attention
- Consistent processes of recording and monitoring performance data
- Links targets and measures to objectives
- Produces performance reports
Whilst there are many other benefits, PB Views enables information to be more widely available and accessible and opens performance management to the many rather than the few.
Performance information for the LAA is viewed through Briefing Books which act as a concise area to group indicators. There is a Briefing Book for each theme of the LAA. See Guide to Navigating a Briefing Book.
To view the Briefing Book click on the link below.
LAA Briefing Book
Multi Area Agreement: In September 2009 the four West of England authorities (South Gloucestershire Council, Bath & North East Somerset Council, Bristol City Council and North Somerset Council) signed a Multi Area Agreement (MAA) with:
Rt Hon Rosie Winterton, Minister for Local Government Jim Knight MP, Minister for the South West the Regional Development Agency the Homes and Communities Agency the Highways Agency the Learning and Skills Council Jobcentre Plus.
A Multi-Area Agreement is a framework that aims to encourage partnership working across local authority boundaries at the regional and sub-regional level. They bring together key players to tackle issues that are best addressed in partnership at a regional and sub-regional level. It is a voluntary agreement between the four West of England unitary authorities, their partners and the government to work collectively to improve local economic prosperity.
The MAA is tailored to the specific challenges of the West of England area and is grounded in capacity, skills and robust partner relationships. There are clear lines of accountability which add value and do not overlap with other existing policies.
In the MAA, the West of England authorities have signed up to deliver a number of actions to:
mitigate the impact of the current economic recession and act to support an early upturn plan and manage the growth in homes and jobs to build mixed and sustainable communities improve access and reduce traffic congestion to increase competitiveness and quality of life attract business investment to increase economic growth and competitiveness improve skills and reduce worklessness to increase competitiveness, growth and regeneration.
In addition the four authorities have committed to reaching key performance relating to skills and worklessness and transport.
In return the government and agencies will provide greater freedom and flexibility in its approach to issues such as:
agreeing simplified checks and controls and more flexibility in the use of resources streamlining the approach to major transport schemes approvals establishing a formal engagement agreement with rail industry partners and stakeholders formal joint planning with the Highways Agency.
To view the full MAA, please use the following link http://www.westofengland.org/multi-area-agreement
The signed agreement contains tables with freedoms and flexibilities the Government will deliver in return for the improved outcomes that the authorities have signed up to in three areas:
plan and manage growth in homes and jobs to build mixed and sustainable communities. improve access and reduce traffic congestion to increase competitiveness and quality of life. improve skills and reduce worklessness to increase completeness and regenerate communities.
The delivery of the MAA is monitored by the West of England Partnership Board and the latest MAA progress report is available on this link http://www.southglos.gov.uk/_Resources/Publications/CEX/10/0200/CEX-10-0024
For more information on the West of England Partnership please see their website www.westofenglandpartnership.org.uk