What are Local Strategic Partnerships?

Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) were set up throughout England to improve local quality of life and ensure that public services work better. Private, voluntary and community sectors were expected to play a full and equal part alongside public agencies in bringing about critical changes and improvements.

The intended benefits of LSPs is summarised as follows:

Intended Benefits of Local Strategic Partnerships

for local people

for local business

for partner agencies

better services

a stronger voice for disadvantaged communities and focus on their needs

greater influence over local strategies and spending priorities

new approaches and projects which tackle the roots of decline in run-down neighbourhoods

a business voice and contribution in shaping strategies and spending priorities - and in making things happen

local strategies which strengthen local competitiveness and jobs

public investments in skills and infrastructure, influenced by LSP priorities

projects and improved services which tackle the roots of decline in run-down neighbourhoods

greater impact

achievement of organisational targets

improved use of resources

new and better ways of doing things through joint working

better solutions to local challenges

LSPs develop and pursue community strategies for their areas. These are intended to ensure that the most important things get done, and that priorities keep in tune with changing needs and opportunities. Promoting community cohesion is an important objective as part of an overall approach to economic, social and environmental well-being.

As part of the National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal, LSPs in 86* local authority areas had the task of helping to turn round the fortunes of the most deprived neighbourhoods. Additional resources - including the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund (NRF) - were made available by central government to help meet needs in these areas. LSPs developed and implemented local neighbourhood renewal strategies to secure more jobs, better education, improved health, reduced crime and better housing.

Community and neighbourhood renewal strategies were intended to influence the main budgets and practices of partner agencies - not just their resources at the margins.

LSPs are also intended to bring more coherence to the diverse plans, services and initiatives of all the public agencies who contribute to promoting local quality of life. They offer an opportunity to rationalise existing partnership structures and join up partner activities - as part of the overall government drive to improve the delivery of public services.

LSPs are not statutory bodies - therefore, their success depends on the voluntary participation of partners. That said, increasingly the performance of a range of public agencies is being judged by government on their achievements through partnership working.

Increasingly, LSPs are expected to:

strengthen their strategies, based on robust assessments of how likely they are to lead to desired outcomes

monitor and manage performance against challenging targets for improving local services, taking account of local and national priorities

encourage public sector partners to change mainstream programmes to meet local neighbourhood renewal priorities

demonstrate genuinely effective partnership working across the sectors

All LSPs were required by government to create a Local Area Agreement (LAA) by 2008/09. The LAA sets out the local priorities for the next 3 years with an aim to deliver better outcomes for local people. Each LAA has a unique overarching theme – one which is considered most important to the local area – Dudley’s being ‘Stronger Communities’ - to be consistent with the Community Strategy vision.

* 86 from 2006 onwards, following changes in eligible areas.