IDeA Support - Improvement Support Work Programme

The objectives for the new IDeA improvement support programme are to further increase awareness and understanding of the roles and responsibilities of elected members, officers and partners in delivering effective implementation of existing Local Area Agreements; inform the negotiation of new Local Area Agreements for 2008/09 for LAA and LSP envisaged in the Local Government White Paper and proposals for Multi Area Agreements (MAA).

Focused at both national and regional level (through Regional Improvement Partnerships) helping councils and partners to review their structures and develop a clear view of the strengths and challenges within their region. The delivery approach is through a joint IDeA/LGA action plan and includes learning and development activities which seek to:

• Support existing and/or new regional LAA/LSP networks with practitioners, project managers, elected members, designed to facilitate and increase LAA learning and deliver site improvement.
  
• Work collaboratively with Regional Improvement Partnerships such as the North West Improvement Network (NWIN) and Government Offices to support LAA review or LSP self-assessment and provide on-site (active support projects).
  
• Increase elected member awareness and understanding through new learning and support material:
  
  • Cabinet members (New duties and requirements, LAA and relationship with Community Strategies and Local Strategic Partnerships)
  • All councillors (12 things you need to know about LAA)
  • All councillors -Governance and accountability, performance management and scrutiny
    
• Establish a new national LAA data base (Innovation and Improvement Practice Library). This will facilitate interrogation on specific issues, for example, enabling measures, or on cross cutting delivery on community cohesion, equalities and diversity, community and traffic safety, drugs management.
  
• Capture and profile new content and good practice and case studies for IDeA Knowledge. Create new LAA Communities of Practice.
  
• Develop regional and/or individual locality/council level implementation and delivery workshops e.g. on two tier working, governance and accountability, performance management
  
• Make available “block specialists” and elected member peers to talk to groups about aspects of the LAA and related cross-cutting themes
  
• Deliver LSP Peer Challenge in partnership between Warwick Business School, SOLACE Enterprises and IDeA - a 2 day, on site challenge using a quality benchmark, undertaken by an experienced peer team containing leading council and non-council representatives. The LSP Peer Challenge benchmark looks specifically at Achievements and Impact, Vision and Strategy, Leadership and Relationships.

Further information is available from the IDeA Regional Associate, Helen Platts  Helen.Platts@idea.gov.uk