Voscur Reps Reports May 2008
A Chairs Eye View
The Bristol Partnership (BP) has been working closely with the City Council on the new Local Area Agreement, due to be completed this June. From Voscur’s (and my) perspective, a key target is that we need to have an 'Environment for a thriving Third Sector' in the city. As chair, I have been actively engaged in discussions on how our LAA should be drafted. All local stakeholder have important targets they want included in the final LAA and I am continuing to oversee this process so that Bristol gets the best possible deal.
A significant part of my work this year has been looking at how we can assess the value and effectiveness of the Partnership. Since January, there have been a several events for Partnership members to reflect on their contribution to the BP, and how their organisations join with others to achieve the vision we all have for the city. This culminated last month with a 'Peer Review' of the Partnership. The review asked hard questions about how we make decisions, how we are seen by others, and what difference we make. The report is about to be published (it will be available HERE) and will be used as a basis for change across all partnership functions.
Finally, last month, the Partnership re-launched the Bristol Compact at a well-attended meeting in the Council House. The Compact is vital to a thriving city as it helps to ensure that decisions are made appropriately and with due consultation. The Compact is not simply a document, but a way of working. The Compact is delivered through the Partnership, and I hope to ensure that it remains 'centre stage' in all our activity. I am always available to discuss the work of the Partnership with any Voscur members and value your input. Quite simply, a partnership is nothing without commitment from its members.
Simon Bale is Voscur Rep to, and Chair of, the Bristol Partnership
Email: simon@ccisr.org.uk or 0117 955 7430.
Economy but no enterprise in the LAA
The Economy Delivery Group have been having long discussions on the economy Local Area Agreement (LAA) targets. Although at the time of our meeting we did not have the definitive list being negotiated between the Government Office for the South West (GOSW) and the Bristol Partnership – we saw a GOSW paper with latest thinking about the economy targets and they are very disappointing. Three are around housing (because of match with Multi Area Agreement indicators), two on out of work benefits and one on skills. So having spent all this time on the Government’s inadequate list of indicators we are now talking about having a special meeting to work up some local targets which could reflect the refresh of the Community Strategy.
The role of the Economy Delivery Group (EDG) will be discussed at our April meeting – it is clear that the chair (from Business West) wants to see a wider grouping of employers round the table (not a bad idea in itself) but also to be clear about the remit at a point when there are few funded programmes around for which EDG would have performance management responsibility. The engagement of employers is welcomed as, of course, they have the potential to provide the employment routes that are so difficult to access for many of those in our most deprived communities
Elaine Flint is Voscur Rep to the Economy Delivery Group
Email: elaine@socialenterpriseworks.org.uk or call 0117 907 0080.
Some confusion and some progress in housing
At the last meeting of the Housing Strategy Group confusion was expressed about the relationship between the Local Area Agreement (LAA) and the Multi Area Agreement (MAA). The group was told that housing targets “may well find their way onto the MAA” and yet it’s still unclear whether those targets will also need to be in the LAA as well. The Housing Strategy Action Plan was reviewed at the last meeting and 30 targets have been achieved or are on course, there has been some progress with thirteen others and seven are causing problems. Several pieces of guidance (both local and national) concerning our Housing Strategy should be produced in the near future, so we may well be arranging an additional meeting to discuss our strategy in the light of these developments. It is clear that Bristol needs more affordable family homes, but it is not yet clear how we can achieve this.
Paul Hazelden is Voscur rep to the Housing Strategy Group
Email: paul@crisis-centre.org.uk or 0117 942 3088.