NAVCA, the Office for the Third Sector, and Communities and
Local Government have combined forces to launch a document setting
out 'principles' to help local third sector organisations be better
involved in setting local priorities.
Principles of Representation: A framework for effective third
sector participation in local strategic partnerships, launched
on 11 August, establishes seven 'principles' to help local groups
have their voice heard. It also looks at case studies of existing
good practice where third sector organisations have been involved
in setting local priorities, and sees what these examples have in
common.
The work focuses on Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs), the bodies
where local organisations providing services (such as local
authorities, police, PCTs, businesses and local third sector
groups) get together to agree local priorities and set Local Area
Agreement (LAA) targets. LSPs are important because the decisions
they make shape how resources are allocated within a local area.
Although it is vital that local third sector groups are included,
in practice there has been a mixed picture across the country when
it comes to their involvement.
Neil Cleeveley, Director of Policy and Communications said:
"It really is significant that that CLG and the OTS have looked to
us for some help producing this, rather than think that they know
best. By working with NAVCA and a wider stakeholder group, they are
recognising that local groups are often in the best position to
understand and respond to the needs of local communities, and
accepting that more needs to be done to make sure their voice is
heard.
"We hope that the principles in these documents can be used
across the country to improve the involvement of third sector
organisations in setting local priorities. By getting involved,
local groups can improve the decision-making which means better
services for local people.
"Our next step will be to produce a shortened version of this
document setting out these principles along with a checklist. This
will be a practical tool that turns this from a nice looking
document into something third sector groups and LSPs can use to
hopefully increase the sectors involvement in
LSPs".