Scottish Borders Council

Agenda item

Governance of Community Planning Partnership

Consider discussion paper by SBC Chief Executive on proposed future governance arrangements for the Community Planning Partnership.  (Copy attached.)

Minutes:

5.1       With reference to paragraph 2.2 of the Minute of 26 November 2015, there had been circulated copies of a discussion paper by the SBC Chief Executive presenting a draft proposal to enhance the governance arrangements for the Scottish Borders Community Planning Partnership.  The proposal would also support the delivery of its priorities, the management of future business and the new arrangements required under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015.  As part of the review of governance arrangements for the Community Planning Partnership (CPP), the SBC Director of Strategy and Policy and the Communities and Partnership Manager had met with each of the Community Planning partners at the end of 2014 and had discussed various aspects of the CPP.  The CPP Joint Delivery Team had met on 15 December 2015 to consider the findings of the CPP governance review and the implications of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015.  A number of issues were raised in the discussions including concern about the size of the Strategic Board once the Act was fully enacted; a lack of guidance for CPP members, their role and how they could be involved in active contribution; the level of CPP engagement with the communities of the Scottish Borders; concern regarding over reliance on SBC to lead and contribute; how partners were held to account, challenged and scrutinised; how decision making was an inclusive process; and lack of clarity around roles and discussion with CPP. 

 

5.2       The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 had made a number of significant changes covering community planning, giving it a statutory purpose focused on improving outcomes.  Specific duties had now been placed on CPPs to act with a view to tackling inequalities of outcome across communities; the Single Outcome Agreement was to be replaced with an overarching Locality Outcomes Improvement Plan (LOIP), supported by a subset of locality plans; and the number of public sector bodies subject to these duties was expanded.  Running the CPP and making sure it worked effectively was now a shared enterprise with names governance partners:  NHS Board, Scottish Enterprise, Police Scotland, and Scottish Fire and Rescue Service; while participation with communities lay at the heart of community planning.  It was proposed that the core membership of the Strategic Board be reduced to the named governance partners in the main, with the Board scrutinising the progress of the LOIP, the 5 locality plans, and considering reports from each organisation on how they were contributing to the agreed priorities.  A performance management framework would be developed to allow monitoring and evaluation of the LOIP and locality plans.  An annual planning and development day would be held for all CPP partners which would be used to set the strategic direction and priorities for the LOIP, based on an annual strategic assessment, national priorities and other key strategic documents.  The CPP Joint Delivery Team would continue to be accountable to the Strategic Board and would oversee the development and delivery of the LOIP and the locality plans, which would happen through Themed Delivery Teams (3 currently:  Economy and Low Carbon; Reducing Inequalities; and Future Services).  As well as the 3 Themed Delivery Teams there were also the Children and Young People’s Leadership Group and the Community Justice Group.

 

5.3       It was proposed to bring back a further report to the June meeting of the Strategic Board with the details of the proposed governance structure.  Members considered various aspects of the proposals including the criteria for membership of the Strategic Board.  It was explained that the starting point for the Board make up had been the named governance partners in the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 and as a result of discussions with existing partnership organisations.  In terms of operational delivery, all partners would be involved in the Joint Delivery Team and the Themed Delivery Teams.  The proposed annual meeting involving all partners would be the foundation for the LOIP, and an effective network of information communication would be required to ensure sufficient sectoral representation and involvement.  With regard to community involvement, the SBC Communities and Partnership Manager had been in discussion with the Chair of the Community Councils Network to consider how best he could be involved; it was also envisaged that there would be greater community involvement at locality level.  It was explained that only the Strategic Board would be a formal Committee of Council and not the Joint Delivery Team or Themed Delivery Teams as these were operational in nature.  Members discussed the possibility of have private sector representation on the Board but there was difficulty in getting someone from the private sector who could represent the whole of the private sector.  Mrs Hume confirmed the wide ranging nature of the many different voluntary organisations in the Borders and the discussions the Third Sector had had around representation.  Some concern was also expressed around allowing substitutes which could lead to a lack of continuity, as well as the issue of not putting specific funding into a joint budget. 

 

            DECISION

            AGREED that a further report on governance for the Community Planning Partnership be considered at the meeting in June 2016.

 

Supporting documents:

 

CONTACT US

Scottish Borders Council

Council Headquarters Newtown St. Boswells Melrose TD6 0SA

Tel: 0300 100 1800

Email:

For more Contact Details