Agenda item

Consider report by SBC Corporate Transformation and Services Director on proposed amendments to the governance arrangements for the Scottish Borders Community Planning Partnership which are in line with the requirements of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015.  (Report to follow.)

5.1       With reference to paragraph 6 of the Minute of 9 June 2016, there had been circulated copies of a report providing members with the outcome of the review of Community Planning Partnership5.1  With reference to paragraph 6 of the Minute of 9 June 2016, there had been circulated copies of a report providing members with the outcome of the review of Community Planning Partnership governance and proposing amendments to the current structure.  The review was undertaken by officers from the Statutory partners and reported back to the Joint Delivery Team.  It took account of the Scottish Government’s national outcomes along with the requirements of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015.  Nine other Community Planning Partnerships structures were also considered.  Most of these had a lead strategic group which had an overview of the work of the Partnership by agreeing, monitoring and evaluating the Single Outcome Agreement Strategic Plan.  While it was not a requirement of legislation that the Strategic Board should be a formal Council committee, this was a convenient mechanism for the Council as it ensured that decisions of the Strategic Board were in fact formal decisions of Council.  The Community Planning Partnership had no authority – whether it operated as an unincorporated body or as a Council committee – to require organisations to comply with any decisions, although the Statutory partners (the Council, NHS Borders, Scottish Enterprise, Police Scotland, and Scottish Fire and Rescue Service) were required to work together as per the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act.  Some partners raised the issue of the format, style and interaction at Strategic Board meetings, which they felt was contributing to a lack of engagement by members.  This could be addressed within the current working of the Strategic Board and was not an issue in respect of the Board being a formal Council committee. 

5.2       In light of the structures of other Community Planning Partnerships, officers concluded that the Scottish Borders Community Planning Partnership would be best served by having two groups – a large consultative group to set the strategic direction, and a smaller decision making group to ensure the strategic direction was being followed.  The Community Planning Partnership Consultative Group would not be a formal committee of Council and would meet a minimum of once per annum for a planning workshop exploring the content and development of the Locality Improvement Plan and the individual Locality Plans, thus preparing the foundation for the work of a smaller Strategic Board.  A revised, smaller Strategic Board would be retained as a decision making group for the Community Planning Partnership.  Membership of this Board would be the 5 Statutory partners plus representatives from Borders College, Registered Social Landlords, and the Third Sector.  While the Strategic Board would remain a formal Council committee, the style and forma of meetings would change to reflect a more open discussion on community planning matters taking account of the outcomes of the Community Planning Partnership Consultative Group planning workshop(s).  The main remit of the Strategic Board would be to approve, monitor and evaluate progress on the Local Outcomes Improvement Plan and the individual Locality Plans, and provide the Consultative Group with an annual assessment of community planning in the Scottish Borders.  It was proposed that these new governance arrangements be reviewed after 18 months to assess their effectiveness.  Members considered various aspects of the proposed governance arrangements including keeping the Strategic Board as a formal Council committee, the need to oversee the work of the Joint Delivery Team and Themed Teams, the focus proposed for the Strategic Board and the planning of agenda items, and the future pooling of resources.           

            DECISION

            AGREED:

(a)     the new governance arrangements for the Community Planning Partnership in the Scottish Borders as detailed in Section 5 of the report;

(b)     that all partners approve the new governance arrangements within their own organisational decision making structure as appropriate; and

(c)     the governance arrangements be reviewed in 18 months time to assess their effectiveness.