Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) are single non-statutory bodies that bring together local public, private, community and voluntary organisations, generally at the level of District, County and Unitary councils. They work with the local community to identify and tackle key issues such as crime, unemployment, education, health and housing in a more co-ordinated manner than has happened before.
More information on the national picture
Community Strategies
The Local Government Act 2000 placed local authorities under a duty to prepare a Community Strategy to enhance the quality of life of local communities through action to improve the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of an area and its inhabitants.
LSPs provide a means of joining up services and tackling issues in a coherent and integrated way. They play a significant role in developing Sustainable Community Strategies and are instrumental in the negotiation of Local Area Agreements; the instrument through which central government and local authorities and their partners agree a limited number of improvement targets for each area.
LSPs and Local Area Agreements
The Local Government White Paper 'Strong and Prosperous Communities' (October 2006) set out ambitious proposals for a new local performance framework. It identified the need for strategic leadership, bringing together local partners to focus on the needs of citizens and communities and shape the places where they live.
The new style local area agreements (LAAs) are at the heart of the new local performance framework. Local authorities and other local service providers have come together with national government to develop agreements for each of England’s 150 top-tier local authority areas; 19 in the South East. Each LAA contains up to 35 priorities, selected from the national indicator set and agreed with Government, in addition to which local partners may agree a number of local targets. Details of each LAA are available on www.localpriorities.communities.gov.uk.
As well as placing LAAs on a statutory footing, the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 also placed a duty on all upper tier authorities to prepare an LAA, and a duty on named partners to co-operate in agreeing LAAs targets and to have regard to those targets in their work.
The Audit Commission national study (April 2009) 'Working better together? Managing local strategic partnerships' reviews arrangements for performance, resource management, and governance. The report identifies LSPs as evolving and maturing, local and national partners still need to recognise the key dynamics that support partnership working. Too few LSPs take an area-wide approach to performance and resource management. Some LSPs have well developed performance arrangements, but less developed resource management. And most LSPs have progress to make on their improvement journey if they are to deliver sustainable community strategy and LAA outcomes.
LSPs that have good, shared systems for performance management (with performance reporting, resource allocation, and risk management) will find it easier to show that they are on track to achieve agreed outcomes than those that do not.
Support is available to LSPs from the Progress through Partnership project which is funded by Improvement and Efficiency South East. Details about all the LSPs in the South East and the support available can be found at www.progressthroughpartnership.org.uk.
