Tag: partnership

Trade unions and economic development

Coming in from the cold: trade unions in economic development partnerships ( pdf 44 KB) from Local Work No 11 (published by the Centre for Local Economic Strategies)

Describes the first capacity building project for trade unionists involved in economic regeneration. Covered partnership working, policy developments and good practice in strategies, project development and evaluation. Developed originally in the North West in 1998, with a follow-up evaluation in 1999 and later roll-out to other TUC regions.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.educe.co.uk/?p=203

Working with Business in LSPs

Working with Business in Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) ( pdf 270KB) – a guide intended to help anyone working to engage businesses with LSPs.This was produced in 2002 for Business in the Community, British Chambers of Commerce, Local Government Association and Neighbourhood Renewal Unit of the OPDM (now CLG).

It provides a brief introduction to LSPs, makes the case for effective business involvement and provides practical ideas for how to do this. The advice is still relevant today – not least for Local Enterprise Partnerships.

Also leaflet: LSPs and Neighbourhood Renewal: why business should get involved  ( pdf 183KB).

Permanent link to this article: https://www.educe.co.uk/?p=202

LSP Induction Pack

Induction materials ( 657 KB) designed to provide a ‘survival guide’ to what partners need to know about Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) and their LSP partners.The pack provides:

  • an introduction to LSPs, and the relevance of neighbourhoood renewal and equalities to LSP activities
  • an LSP board member induction process and checklist
  • profiles of partner bodies and theme partnerships
  • jargon buster

The content was developed for LSPs in the West Midlands, though much was of relevance to other regions.The thinking behind the pack was that the ability to make a confident contribution in LSPs depends on being familiar with the terrain (what the LSP is about, its context, its strategies and how it works). Successful collaboration depends on partners sharing common goals and gaining mutual advantage through their involvement. Understanding what partners bring to the table, what drives them and what constrains them is an essential platform for joint working.

These materials were designed to be adapted to needs within individual partnerships and as a starting point for further learning about partners and the partnership – a prompt for the best learning: finding out locally from horses’ mouths.

These materials were produced in 2006 for the Leadership and Partnership Development programme in the West Midlands. They should be read in the light of the subsequent policy developments which have inevitably dated the content. However, we continue to make them available as they remain a starting point for induction activity, to be adapted and updated to fit specific local circumstances.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.educe.co.uk/?p=198

Mutual Advantage – Skills & VCOs

Mutual Advantage: Working with Voluntary and Community Organisations on Learning and Skills– report on research and development project in Hampshire, Sandwell and Wigan, on the opportunities and implications for the voluntary sector and the LSC of the new learning and skills agenda. Project report for Department for Education & Skills, published April 2001.It features:

  • Part 1 report, featuring key messages for Local Learning and Skills Councils and the voluntary sector, and lots of examples of capacity building and partnership working in practice ( pdf – 597 KB)
  • Part 2: case studies from project areas (Hampshire, Sandwell and Wigan) and other parts of the country (Birmingham, London, Norfolk and Yorkshire), and resources to help users review the roles voluntary organisations can play, strengthen partnership working and identify sources of funding for capacity building. ( pdf – 556 KB)
There is also a summary ( pdf – 243 KB).
‘Mutual Advantage’ has been very widely used (with high numbers of downloads from Government websites in addition to the printed copies) and was influential in the subsequent development of policy and relationships between the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and the voluntary and community sector.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.educe.co.uk/?p=195

Learning to Deliver Digests

We produced regular bi-monthly issues of the Learning to Deliver Digest which brought together developments in policy and practice relevant to managers and practitioners whose roles concern driving change and improvement in partnership settings. The last in the series was in November 2009 ( 339KB).

Web links were provided for all items mentioned. Signposted documents included not only official publications and websites but also a variety of other materials which help readers ‘keep up with and ahead of the game’.

Each Digest featured notes on a handful of key developments in recent weeks and a section dedicated to LAA matters. These are followed by a fuller list of documents, tools and other resources – ranging across central and local government; climate change; community empowerment; community safety; children and young people;   economic development, skills and worklessness; health; housing; neighbourhood renewal and social exclusion; planning & transport; rural development; and the third sector. There were also cross-cutting themes of efficiency and improvement;  community empowerment;  and equality, diversity and cohesion.

The Digest was produced for the Learning to Deliver programme (Improvement and Efficiency West Midlands) and was funded by Communities and Local Government.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.educe.co.uk/?p=190

Bedfordshire: Towards 2021 evaluation

Evaluation of ‘Bedfordshire: Towards 2021’ ( pdf – 613KB) –  a training and development programme targeted at key professionals to enable them to develop skills needed to deliver the Sustainable Communities agenda in Bedfordshire and Luton. The programme, developed by Luton and Dunstable Partnership, took its inspiration from the findings of the Egan Review, ‘Skills for Sustainable Communities’, which highlighted the need to enable people to widen their knowledge, enable partnership working and create a new breed of all-round regeneration worker.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.educe.co.uk/?p=181