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1. The importance of the 'place shaping
agenda'
At the heart of the White Paper is the idea of improving whole
areas rather than just individual services, and focusing these
improvements on the demands of the citizens and communities, not on
the demands from central government.
This has implications for the LSPs as one of the main
mechanisms through which; the needs of the communities can be
identified, and people are encouraged to work together accross
service boundaries.
We can expect: closer working between LSPs and local government
to plan and co-ordinate better provision of local services.
2. Co-ordinated delivery of outcomes
The White Paper confirms that the LSP is the over-arching
strategic partnership for an area and reinforces the importance of
rationalising other partnerships - as too many may reduce thier
effectiveness. It also makes clear that community strategies
will set the vision for an area, supported by a number of
broad outcomes. The strategy will integrate and align all
strategies in an area and the Local Area Agreement (LAA) will be
the delivery plan for the strategy.
In two-tier areas, the Government proposes a new duty for upper
tier authorities to prepare LAAs and a new duty for local
authorities and named partners to co-operate with each
other to agree the targets and work towards their
delivery.
In order to achieve an integrated approach to delivering local
government and NHS priorities, new statutory partnerships for
health and well-being will be introduced and the government intends
to carry out consultation on the effective implementation of health
partnerships.
3. Strong and visible leadership from local
authorities
'LSPs must be responsive to the needs of local citizens and
communities. The democratic process provides an essential
link between the views of local citizens and the ambitions and
priorities set out by the LSP'. So while a local authority
can neither agree nor deliver a Sustainable Community Strategy on
its own, it is appropriate for it as a locally elected body to be
charged with co-ordinating the work of LSP partners.
'We will therefore ensure that LSPs are accountable to local
people by strengthening the involvement of elected members in both
executive and scrutiny roles. We will expect local authority
leaders to agree the appointment of an LSP chair, and for them to
be key members of the LSP. Executive portfolio holders should
equally play a key role on their appropriate thematic
partnerships.'
4. Community cohesion
One of the guiding principles in the paper is that no-one should
be disadvantaged by where they live. It speaks of the need
for community cohesion; to reach out to those who are
disadvantaged, marganalised and socially excluded to hear their
voice and make sure that services reflect their need.
It is therefore important for LSPs to identify those in the
community who may fall into this category and to be creative in
finding user friendly ways of consulting them.
5. Sustainability
The government defines the sustainability agenda as
incorporating economic, social and environmental wellbeing with
social cohesiveness. As well as considering the interplay
between these factors LSPs have a role to play in encouraging and
empowering community participation in decision making, building up
local economies and promoting voluntary and community sector
representation.
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