Cross-Theme Plan 2004
Accreditation Action Plan 2004 Director's Comments
STRATEGIC: Effective, representative & capable of playing a strategic role
Agree funding. Advertise and recruit Local Economic Development Partnership Manager and Strategic Housing Partnership Manager. Completed. New manager - Jeff Wharfe - appointed and commenced duties in May 2004.
Agree SRB funding for Business Broker to develop private sector engagement in the Partnership and key strategic initiatives. Advertise and recruit Business Broker. Completed. Funding agreed. Business Broker - Myles Thompson - appointed and commenced duties in July 2004.
Ensure Rotherham Partnership priorities are properly taken account of in the preparation of the Sub-regional Investment Plan. Monitor delivery of Rotherham priorities. Completed. Rotherham Prospectus developed through Partnership Board. Majority of priorities and required funding agreed within Sub-regional Investment Plan. Delivery currently on track.
Complete Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy, reporting to Partnership Board on 11 March 2004, and communicate strategic priorities to all partners. Completed. Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy finally agreed by Partnership Board in September 2004 following further consultation required by Council, and subsequently published in November 2004.
Organise monthly meetings of Strategic Funding Group to encourage joint working between partners, where appropriate, and share knowledge and learning Action on-going. Partners have been benefiting from sharing knowledge and learning through the Group.
Set up Ambassador Steering Group. Agree Terms of Reference, and develop and agree Support and Marketing Plan. Completed. Ambassador Steering Group set up and Terms of Reference agreed. Support and Marketing Plan developed and agreed with partners.
Communicate Rotherham Ambassador initiative to partners and within organisations, and recruit a further 300 Ambassadors. Action on-going. Good progress had been made in communicating the initiative widely both within and outside of Rotherham. A further 300 Ambassadors have signed up since the launch in October 2003, meeting the target.
Review voluntary and community representation on Partnership Spokes & complete nomination process to improve transparency/accountability. Action on-going. Voluntary and community representation on the Board and Spokes has been kept regularly under review. Additional voluntary/community representatives have been brought onto some Spokes as part of this process.
Prepare exit strategies and round up SRB 3 and 4 programmes, and communicate good practice and learning across the Partnership. Completed. Exit strategies for SRB 3 and 4 programmes drawn up and widely communicated. Lessons learnt have also been communicated widely through the distribution of two leaflets published in 2004.
Complete commissioning of new/amended projects funded through SRB 5 and 6 ready to start preparation on exit strategies in 2005.
Completed. SRB 5 and 6 programmes fully committed. Work has now started on preparation of exit strategies. Strategic Funding Manager - Barbara Croxton - has been appointed on a fixed term contract to head up the SRB team as it moves from commissioning to focus on exit planning.
INCLUSIVE: Actively involves all the key players, including the public, private, community and voluntary sectors
Put in place regular briefing sessions for voluntary and community members to enableo them to play an effective role on the Partnership. Action on-going. Regular briefing sessions have been set up by the Network Development Officer, based at Voluntary Action Rotherham, and feedback from the CEN is positive.
Put in place regular briefing sessions for private sector members to enable them to play an effective role on the Partnership. Action on-going. The new Business Broker has been working closely with Rotherham Chamber to ensure that business representatives feel they have adequate support. A support package has been put in place which is flexible to their needs.
Complete and distribute Member Handbook to all members, complementing the Member Development half-day programme (see below). Action on-going. Following the decision to refresh the Community Strategy, it was considered appropriate to delay publication of the Handbook until this work had been Completed.
Clarify formal and informal protocols for ways of working, where there is currently a lack of clarity, in discussion with all partners, building on recent away-days. Completed. Memorandum of Association up-dated. Working Protocol developed and agreed. LSP-CEN Protocol developed and agreed. All will be kept under review.
Produce bi-monthly newsletters, and review distribution (annually) to ensure circulation remains appropriate to the membership. Action on-going. Bi-monthly newsletters have been produced, and feedback from partners has been positive.
Produce regular press releases to communicate good news messages about the work of the Partnership locally and sub-regionally. Action on-going. The Partnership has been averaging 10-15 positive news story hits a month in the local press, and has also been successful in securing articles in the national professional press.
Complete overhaul of Partnership website and continue to develop it as an important source of information for members and stakeholders. Action on-going. Website has been developed further since the launch at the end of 2003. Further work will be needed later this year to up-date the website following the refresh of the Community Strategy.
Establish work programme for the Compact Working Group over next 12 months with a view to adopting Codes of Practice by end of year. Action on-going. Compact Working Group set up and Terms of Reference agreed. Partners have developed action plans identifying work to be completed to move towards the full implementation of the Codes of Practice longer-term. A ‘go live’ date is soon to be agreed.
ACTION FOCUSED: Established genuine common priorities/targets & agree actions and milestones
PERFORMANCE MANAGED: Aligned member performance management systems, aims and objectives to the LSP
Adopt suite of strategic indicators for inclusion in agreed Performance Management Framework, and for bi-annual reporting to Partnership Board. Completed. Suite of strategic indicators and bi-annual reporting agreed by Partnership Board in March 2004.
Start bi-annual reporting to Partnership Board against suite of indicators in agreed Performance Management Framework. First reporting to Board, July 2004. Action on-going. Performance reports presented to the Board in July and November 2004. It has been agreed that in future years, bi-annual reports will be presented in July and January (allowing further time for validation of school results).
Organise State of Rotherham Conference to review progress on Community Strategy and debate “big issues” facing Rotherham. Completed. Future of Rotherham Conference held on Friday 2 July 2004. Over 550 partners and members of the public attended. It was considered a huge success.
Prepare progress report on Community Strategy for State of Rotherham Conference and for wide circulation to all partners. Completed. Progress report on Community Strategy completed and included in delegate packs at conference. Further copies of progress report subsequently distributed to partner organisations. Summary version of report (in newsletter format) distributed to every household in the Borough.
Prepare Neighbourhood Renewal Commissioning Framework in line with the published Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy. Completed. Commissioning Framework developed and priorities for future NRF spend agreed by Partnership Board in September 2004. NRF spend leading up to the end of the financial year 2004/05 is on track.
Review the monitoring and evaluation of the NRF, revise the current monitoring forms and establish new procedures. Completed. A more robust NRF monitoring and evaluation process put in place. The Council has appointed a specific officer to undertake the monitoring and evaluation - Jayne Dale - and the Partnership is currently recruiting a Neighbourhood Renewal Adviser to validate the process.
Review Spoke Plans 2003-04, and prepare Spoke Plans 2004/05. Spoke Chairs to present priorities to Board on 13 May 2004. Completed. Spoke Action Plans 2004/05 prepared. Priorities presented to Partnership Board in May 2004.
EFFICIENT: Reduces, not adds to, the bureaucratic burden
Keep under review current structures and Terms of Reference of Partnership Spokes (where required). Action on-going. The current structures and Terms of Reference are kept regularly under review, and membership, roles and responsibilities have been refined over 2004 to reflect changing needs and circumstances.
LEARNING & DEVELOPMENTAL: Builds on best practice from successful partnerships
Complete Member Development half-day programme in March 2004, with aim of raising awareness and understanding of Partnership. Completed. Member Development half-day programme completed in March 2004.
Organise visit to Bradford Vision LSP to share learning and develop good practice (following successful visit to Liverpool First last year). Completed. Visit to Bradford Vision was a success, and officers were able to share ideas and experiences with colleagues from a similar partnership.
Prepare good practice case studies with GOYH Writers Renewal project monies and publicise on the website and other media. Completed. Good practice case studies completed, and subsequently published and distributed in November 2004.
Share learning across LSP networks, including South Yorkshire sub-regional networks and Yorkshire and Humberside regional networks. Action on-going. The Partnership Office has continued to share experiences across LSP networks.
Organise monthly “Learning Lunch” sessions to raise awareness and understanding of partners of important partnership initiatives. Action on-going. Partners have been benefiting from sharing knowledge and learning through the Group.