LSB4
Health, Wellbeing and Local Government Committee Inquiry into Local Service Boards
Evidence from Flintshire Local Service Board
1. Background
1.1 In a report submitted to the former Community Strategy Partnership Board in September 2007, support was given to a proposal made by the Chief Executive of Flintshire County Council for a Local Service Board Structure for Flintshire, which has been agreed as follows:
LSB Executive - responsible for executive planning and action. Group comprises:
Chief Superintendent North Wales Police
Flintshire County Council Chief Executive
Flintshire County Council Leader
Local Health Board Chief Executive
Principal, Deeside College
The first meeting of the reformed leadership Group was held on 11th June. The individual public service leaders involved have strong professional relationships both through pre-existing partnerships (such as the Community Safety Partnership and the Health and Well-Being Partnership Board) and bilaterally through the course of their work.
LSB Strategy Group - responsible for governance and priorities. Group comprises:
LSB Executive Group Members
WAG Representative
Director of Community Services, FCC
Flintshire Local Voluntary Council
National Public Health Service
North Wales Fire and Rescue Service
North Wales NHS Trust
Richard Hart, Area Improvement Director (North Wales) for the Department of Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS) has been appointed as the WAG representative for the Flintshire LSB.
The first meeting of the LSB Strategy Group was held on the 14th August 2008. Members agreed that the Terms of Reference for the group would be based around 4 key principle areas:
Effective partnership relationships
Producing a meaningful and fit for purpose Community Strategy
Good governance of Strategic Partnerships
Identify common issues as partners
LSB Consultation Forum/Network - responsible for consultation and reporting back to the LSB. It will draw on existing mechanisms for consultation and engagement.
LSB Support Team - responsible for the support management of the strategy system. Examples of work this group will undertake are - a Performance Management Framework, a Consultation and Engagement Framework and the Flintshire Profile/Needs Assessment. Group comprises:
Strategic Partnership Coordinators
Flintshire County Council Corporate Policy and Partnerships Team Representatives
Senior Communities First Coordinator
Head of Planning Policy (includes responsibility for Local Development Plan)
1.2 The rationale for these arrangements was to separate executive action (responsibility) from strategy (representation) from consultation (involvement and accountability).
1.3 The main role of the LSB will be to identify and manage common / shared issues and challenge the standard of delivery of outcomes across the strategic partnerships that make up Flintshire in Partnership. It will act as:
Co-ordinator - of all partnerships from a central and leadership position.
Supervisor - of all partnerships ensuring consistent standards of governance and performance.
Manager - of data, intelligence and consultation and engagement.
Strategist - of ideas, policy and programmes.
Broker - of priorities for attention, resources and action.
2. The identification of priorities
2.1. In 2007, the former Community Strategy Partnership Board (CSPB) requested that a 'Flintshire Profile’ be developed to inform the priorities of the Community Strategy and the work of the other strategic partnerships.
2.2 The purpose of the Profile was to provide a statistical overview of the key issues in Flintshire to help to inform the decision making-process. This includes issues highlighted in the needs assessments produced for the Children and Young Peoples Plan, the Health, Social Care and Well Being Strategy, and the Community Safety Strategic Plan. It does not aim to take into account everyone’s interests, experiences and perceptions.
The Flintshire Profile provides key information on the following key areas:
Demography
Economy and employment
Health related behaviours and well-being
Morbidity, mortality and health service provision
Community safety
Transport and access
Housing
Learning
Environment
Leisure, culture and Recreation
2.3 It is intended that the Profile will be used as one of the methods to identify key issues in Flintshire and that this information can then be used to inform resource planning or service improvements.
2.4 The Profile is purely a statistically evidenced needs assessment and a 'starting point’ from which we can start to develop our Community Strategy priorities. As part of the Community Strategy Review, taking into account consultation and engagement with members of the public, and our public, private and voluntary and community sector partners will be essential.
2.5 In its first meeting, the LSB Strategy Group agreed its approach to the review of the Community Strategy:
LSB Strategy Group members to consult with their organisation to identify key issues.
Two facilitated workshops will be held in October and December to formalise a vision and priorities for the LSB and the Community Strategy based on the issues brought by each partner organisation.
The workshops will lead to a draft Community Strategy by the end of 2008, which will be out for consultation at the beginning of 2009.
3. The Relationship with existing Partnership Structures
3.1 In April 2008, the Chief Executive of Flintshire County Council (FCC) met with Strategic Partnership Coordinators and Officers of FCC including Corporate Policy Officers, Communities First Coordinator and the Head of Planning Policy to discuss future ways of working. It was agreed at this meeting that the Group (known as the Flintshire in Partnership (FIP) Coordination Group) would reconvene to establish proposals for a Group to support the work of FIP and to act as a 'clearing house’ for the FLSB.
3.2In May, the WLGA facilitated a meeting of the FIP Coordination Group to develop proposals for:
Function and role of the Group
Values of the Group to shape and drive action
Governance arrangements
Partnership evaluation
3.3 The proposed function and role of the Group is to:
a. Act as a 'Clearing House’ for the FLSB by:
Assisting in 'clearing the fog’ within the overall strategy system.
Identifying, assessing and filtering citizen / community focussed issues and channel them into the LSB where appropriate.
Assisting in managing the strategy system.
b. Build upon and consolidate existing intelligence and knowledge management functions.
3.4 The Group has a central role in developing and shaping the whole strategy system through ensuring the promotion of a set of agreed core, value-based, characteristics that could include economy and efficiency in the use of resource and coherence in effectiveness of delivery and achievement of outcomes.
4. Challenges for Partners
4.1 The evolving LSB has determined that a number of challenges need to be overcome for the LSB to continue to operate effectively. These have been identified initially as:
Reconciling local community and whole County and sub-regional priorities.
Understanding partner issues and critical planning cycles
Engagement by partners with multiple LSBs
Funding and governance complexities
Demographic change and pressures
4.2 In the first meeting of the LSB Strategy Group, it was agreed that the group would be a forum where partners can share expertise and resources to meet the needs and challenges that they have in common as organisations governing the County, employing people and procuring goods and services, for example:
Energy efficiency savings: establishing methods to encourage energy efficiency savings that can be used by all.
Management training: Holding cross-sector training sessions for management.
5. Role of the Local Authority
5.1. To date, the role of the Local Authority has been to:
Co-ordinate, develop and inform the LSB Executive and Strategy Groups.
Lead on developing and managing the role of the LSB Support Team.
6. Scrutiny and Accountability for LSB
6.1 The internal scrutiny and accountability roles within the LSB are developing along the lines outlined in section 1.1. It is too early at this stage to determine the how, who and when of external scrutiny of external scrutiny of the LSB and its impact.
7. Conclusion
7.1 Although the Local Service Board in Flintshire is in its developmental and evolutionary phase; its introduction has had a positive response from all partners. The general consensus is that it is a welcome opportunity to build on open and honest relationships within a structure that will frame a long term vision and also deal with the more intractable issues within a trusting environment.
