WELCOME TO THE SOUTH GLOUCESTERSHIRE PARTNERSHIP'S HOMEPAGE
Our Vision: "South Gloucestershire - a great place to live and work.
By working in partnership, our vision is for everyone who lives and works in South Gloucestershire to fulfil their potential, enjoy an excellent quality of life and support others in their communities whilst protecting the environment."
The next meeting of the South Gloucestershire Partnership is on 7th May 2009 at The Ridgewood Centre, Yate at 2 pm. All are welcome. To view the agenda and minutes of previous meetings in 2009, please click HERE
Future Meetings:
28th July 2009, Thornbury Council Offices 9.30 a.m.
29th Sept 2009, tbc
7th Jan 2010, tbc
9th April 2010, tbc
WHAT'S NEW
May 2009: At its recent meeting, the Partnership welcomed Rev. Jon Doble, Director of the Churches' Council for Industrial and Social Responsibility as the new representative of faith groups in South Gloucestershire. He takes up the baton from Roger Allen who has improved the Partnership's understanding of the work and issues of all faith groups in the area - a big thank you goes to Roger for his contribution and we wish him well in his future undertakings.
Apr 2009: The new SGP newsletter has been launched - click HERE to view. The newsletter aims to share the work of the Partnership with a wider audience as well as giving partners an opportunity to showcase the work they do in partnership. It is intended that this newsletter will be produced on a quarterly basis so watch out for the next edition June/July 2009.
For hard copies or to submit articles for future newsletters, please contact Sophie Maher Research and Information Officer Strategic Partnerships Tel: 01454 863862 or sophie.maher@southglos.gov.uk
Mar 2009: Welcome to Steve Grainger Chief Executive of Avon Wildlife Trust who is taking over the chair of the Environment Strategic Partnership from Sarah Davies of the Centre for Sustainable Energy who is on maternity leave. Steve has been involved in the Environment Strategic Partnership for many years and will now be its representative on the South Gloucestershire Partnership.
Feb 2009: In February, the South Gloucestershire Partnership (SGP) hosted the latest Partners’ Conference. The Conference is an annual gathering of public, private and voluntary sector organisations involved in all aspects of life in South Gloucestershire who come together to discuss key issues of the area.
This year, the half day event was held at BAWA in Road, Filton and was attended by nearly 100 representatives of the public, private and voluntary sectors. The theme of the conference was how to face the challenge of future growth and to create sustainable communities in South Gloucestershire by working in partnership.
The conference was opened by South Gloucestershire Council’s Chief Executive Amanda Deeks. Professor Katie Williams the Director of the Centre for Environment and Planning at UWE (University of the West of England) followed with the keynote address. Katie outlined the area’s growth agenda, its impact on climate change and gave some good practice examples of how sustainable communities can be created in partnership.
After a spirited question and answer session, the Conference heard from key partners - Avon & Somerset Police, NHS South Gloucestershire, Natural England, the Council for Voluntary Services (CVS), the Federation of Small Businesses and the Corporate Equalities Forum – who each gave a three minute soundbyte on the effect that potential growth in the area will have on their sectors.
Delegates also had the opportunity to work in one of five workshops discussing the question - What can we do in partnership to achieve sustainable communities within the context of the vision and priorities of the Sustainable Community Strategy. The key messages which came out of the workshops and which were fed back to the whole conference included
- Infrastructure: get it in first; get it right; make sure it’s flexible . Develop the community infrastructure alongside the physical infrastructure. It is crucial to get transport right.
- Engage, listen to and act upon public views. Community development is vital to link existing and new communities. Get young people involved.
- Plan, especially before confirmation of the final growth numbers. Put resources into spatial planning. Proactive not reactive planning.
- Develop local jobs with the infrastructure first. Prepare for the future; develop new skills for all ages. Improve delivery of skills through partnership of education and employment
- Design to encourage healthy living and crime reduction; flexible, good quality buildings. Involve developers as soon as possible.
- Identify a ‘shopping list’ for each community to help improve its sustainability
- Build on the present partnerships but create better links between the strategic and the operational. Keep thinking about efficient joint working and service delivery
All the ideas and discussion threads from the workshops have been fed back to the SGP and the council’s department heads and will influence the Core Strategy - the main strategic planning document for the future growth of the area.
The conference was a big success because of the core belief of all who attended - that we can get it right working together if we plan well, talk to each other and resource properly. Everyone’s view is important, and a big thank you goes to all those who attended for their contribution.
Feb 2009: The Audit Commssion has confirmed that South Gloucestershire Council as an authority is improving strongly.
"From an already very good level, service performance is improving faster than the year before. Improvement isfaster than average compared to other councils, especially in the council’s priorities and in nationally important services.
Educational attainment has improved significantly and services for children and young people continue to perform well. Pupils with special educational needs achieve well. Adult social care services are generally good and the Council works well with partners to reduce health inequalities and improve community safety.
The number of young people entering the youth justice system has reduced and looked after children received good care.
Recycling and composting rates have improved significantly.
There is increased support for people to claim benefits and the time to process claims has improved significantly.
Previous poor performance in processing planning applications is improving, with more efficient processes now in place.
The Council provides excellent value for money. Prospects for continuing improvement are strong with consistently good leadership, sustained commitment to improvement and effective partnership working. The Council achieved the highest rating of 4 in its recent corporate assessment."
Feb 2009: Good luck to Sarah Davies, Head of Advice, Education and Community Initiatives at the Centre for Sustainable Energy who starts her maternity leave. Not only is she a member of the South Gloucestershire Partnership but she is also the Chair of the Environment Strategic Partnership.
For items prior to 2009 please go to the Old News page