Local Strategic Partnerships - UK government consultation, December 2005

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The consultation documents
Copies of the consultation document ‘Local Strategic Partnerships - Shaping their future’ can be found at www.odpm.gov.uk/lg/consult - This is a consultation from the The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

Consultation deadline
The consultation will run until 3rd March 2006

Purpose of this page
This page has been set up to facilitate and enable discussion of the issues raised by the consultation and for people interested in sustainable community action to explore possibilities and opportunities for joint and shared consultation responses. You can add comments or discuss issues on this articles associated discussion page - see discussion tab at the top of the page

About the consultation
According to The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister: "There are currently over 360 Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) in England, 88 of which are in areas that currently receive Neighbourhood Renewal Funding (NRF). Those areas in receipt of NRF are required to have an LSP but LSPs, outside those areas are entirely voluntary.

The consultation focuses on a number of challenges now facing LSPs, including critically the need to develop and drive delivery of Local Area Agreements (LAAs) and the need to reshape community strategies into Sustainable Community Strategies in line with the Egan Review. LSPs must be capable of balancing and integrating economic, social and environmental goals to deliver genuinely sustainable communities.

The consultation looks at the following issues:


 * Role of LSPs - this role has changed with the national role out of LAAs which requires LSPs to genuinely co-ordinate delivery in their area. There is also a need for clarity about the relationship between Sustainable Community Strategies, LAAs and Local Development Frameworks.
 * Status of LSPs - the increasing expectations placed on LSPs calls into question their voluntary nature - the consultation proposes establishing a duty on various public service providers to co-operate with the local authority in producing a Sustainable Community Strategy and LAA - this reflects the situation in Scotland.
 * Governance of the LSP - the advent of LAAs also places a strong emphasis on the need for effective governance and accountability of the LSP. We do not propose one model to fit all but specify some principles of operation.
 * Accountability - the consultation examines the strength of the accountability upwards to central government and the possibilities of strengthening local accountability to other partners.
 * Capacity of LSPs - this is key to ensuring their success. The consultation explores the key skills and the support needed by LSPs."

Reference
 * ODPM News Release 2005/0270

See also Comment article: How can Community Strategies be turned into Sustainable Community Strategies?, Community involvement, Regeneration