Background to Local Strategic Partnerships

Modified from the LSP Handbook for Hampshire, developed by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight LSP Practitioners' Network.

Background to LSP s and Community Strategies

Local Government Act

The Local Government Act 2000 places a duty on local authorities to prepare a Community Strategy for improving and promoting the economic, social and environmental well-being of their area. Government guidance on Community Strategies makes it clear that Local Authorities are expected to prepare Community Strategies in partnership with other local organisations and agencies and recommends that they do this by establishing a Local Strategic Partnership.

A Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) is a non-statutory, multi-agency body, which matches local authority boundaries. It aims to bring together at a local level the different parts of the public, private, community and voluntary sectors. The core membership of a LSP should include the private, public, voluntary and the community sectors and representatives on the LSP need to have the necessary leadership and leverage in their own organisations.

To be effective LSP s need to:

Involve the community
Bring together public, private, voluntary and community sectors
Be effectively led
Be a genuine partnership
Ensure priorities are reflected in delivery of services
Take a strategic role in coordinating actions working towards local and national targets

To achieve the above LSP s will have to:

Find a method of working with and consulting with local people
Develop and publicise aims and priorities
Ensure all partners are treated equally
Build common purpose and shared commitment
Share local information and good practice
Identify and support effective local initiatives
Develop a common performance management system
Provide a forum for debate, discussion and common decision-making.

The Hampshire Approach

In Hampshire there are 11 Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) developing Community Strategies at a district level and one that spans the county, the Hampshire Strategic Partnership (HSP).

Portsmouth and Southampton, as unitary authorities, also have a LSP and a Community Strategy that covers their area. Each Community Strategy is unique to the area it covers.

The Hampshire Community Strategy will be different from those at the district level, as it will look to respond to issues that cannot be addressed by district LSP s individually. Local issues and local implementation will be dealt with by district community strategies and the county wide strategy can consider where working together on a larger scale can provide a better solution.

LSP Structure in Havant: the Havant Community Partnership Structure

Links to Other Strategies and Plans

LSP s exist to support Community Strategies. Community Strategies are expected to demonstrate clear links to:

The county Community Strategy via Local Area Agreements (LAAs).
Spatial planning via the Local Development Framework (LDF).

Community Strategies should also link with all other district strategies in order to demonstrate that the various strategies are aligned to a single vision for a district.

Governance and Accountability

This summary of Governance and Accountability is based on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's (ODPM's) consultation paper " LSP s: Shaping their future."

The key feature of LSP s is that they should be the overarching partnership in a locality bringing together all local thematic partnerships. In order to work effectively, they need transparent governance arrangements.

Governance

The basic structure of an LSP should include some form of executive board, which is able to take strategic decisions, underpinned by the local thematic partnerships which will feed into the board and effectively be the delivery mechanisms for the LSP . The lead representative for each of the thematic partnerships should be a core member of the Partnership Board.

Accountability

Clarifying the role of the LSP and ensuring strong positive leadership is crucial to the effectiveness of the LSP . However clear accountability also requires mutually understood and accepted ways of working plus internal performance management to check progress.

Within the LSP each partner is responsible for the actions that they agree to undertake, and as such are accountable for the delivery of those actions to the LSP , to their parent organisation and to the local community.

Roles and Responsibilities of Members of an LSP

In order for the LSP to operate effectively all partners need to understand their roles and responsibilities, so that they can make a positive contribution to the Partnership.

Equality
Individuals and organisations within the partnership must all work as equals, with their contribution being evenly regarded.
Loyalty
Members are expected to demonstrate loyalty to the Partnership, and take a collective responsibility for decisions made.
Openness
It is important that the Partnership operates in a transparent way. All partners are expected to be open about the views and priorities of their own organisations. Differences should be aired and any potential conflicts of interest declared.
Engagement
For the Partnership to be effective all partners need to be fully engaged and involved with the LSP . Partners should be prepared to contribute to, and keep informed of, the work of the Partnership.
Promotion
As representatives of the LSP , all LSP members should seek to promote and support the aims and actions of the Partnership externally, within their own organisations and partnerships, and within the community.
Accountability
Representatives need to carry back to their organisations the key messages and decisions of the LSP . This is a key part of the role.
Delivery
All partners are accountable to each other for delivering relevant parts of the Community Strategy. Partners are expected to make an active contribution to delivering what has been agreed.
Co-operation
Partners should be prepared to contribute to the achievement of joint LSP targets through cooperation with other organisations and removal of potential barriers to achieving them.
Commitment
It is expected that partners are able to commit the necessary resources of their organisation to achieve the objectives of the Partnership.
Consultation
As representatives working across a range of sectors within the District, partners can expect to be involved with consultation on any key policies to affect the area.