The PtP Central Fund – How it is being used

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Ninety per cent of LSPs in the south east (67 out of 74) have made use of the £6000 offered to them through the PtP central fund. Generating dozens of capacity-building activities, the fund has fostered collaborative work with over a third of the fund being pooled across a county area or by neighbouring LSPs.

This year every LSP can access £4000 of further support provided it is claimed by the October deadline. In addition this fund will be enhanced by the unclaimed money from the previous year in order that LSPs can bid for funds in excess of £4000.  The availability of the extra money will depend on take-up and will be allocated against the criteria laid out in the guidance paperwork.

Pooling of funds with neighbouring LSPs will again be encouraged  and the self-assessment process has been made more light-touch. Requirements for good planning and the prompt reporting of activities will be more stringent this time.

On the announcement in July that the fund was open for a second time, a clutch of applications were received almost by return, an encouraging sign of a new readiness in LSPs.

The purpose of the fund is to enable activities which will strengthen one or more of the following aspects of LSP development: vision and strategy; leadership; governance; performance management; and delivery and impact. LSPs are not restricted to a set menu of activities but broad guidance is given by PtP.

How the fund was used last time:

First year results indicate a predominance of activities focussing on vision and strategy, which reflects the fact that most LSPs are still relatively new and are also having to respond to guidance and legislation published over the last year. In descending order, the most commonly-organised activities were: board member workshops and awaydays (40); conferences (15); officer development activities (14); Sustainable Community Strategy development (12); consultation or research reports (11); LSP review sessions (11); and brand development including websites and publications (6).

Planning events exploring how best to engage hard to reach groups were held by Oxfordshire and Cherwell; and Brighton held events that explored the local  economy and mental health.  Hastings held training sessions provided to the local Community Empowerment Network on chairing partnership meetings and Portsmouth held an event on opportunities to draw external funding streams into the area. Lewes LSP held a conference on climate change which attracted 70 local authority attendees .

Notable communications initiatives include Wokingham LSPs decision to produce an informative and accessible newsletter briefing after every LSP meeting and the production of a DVD.  Rother, East Sussex, Sevenoaks and Lewes LSPs have developed their websites to help share the ambitions of their LSPs and how they engage with local stakeholders.

The re-emphasis in the recent Statutory Guidance for LSPs on the duty to involve encouraged some LSPs to use their PtP money to develop their role in supporting this duty. For example, Chichester’s LSP held a string of events starting with a Healthier Chichester Partnership consultation event including a Housing Forum, Economic Forum and Environment Forum. Arun LSP held four public consultations after their conference to test conference findings.

Developing LSPs through direct financial support – benefits and challenges

PtP also held the seminar above in July for consultants specialising in LSP work. This identified some common activities, from the practical – for example, systems for LSP sharing of local data and intelligence – to the strategic, including creating a common sense of purpose and managing performance in a partnership environment.  

PtP’s priority in the year ahead will be to respond to these and to:

• Clarify and develop the member role in partnership arrangements

• Ensure members and partners are clear on the ‘duty to involve’ in a partnership context

• Facilitate LSP visioning work for their Sustainable Community Strategies

• Ensure partners are clear on the ‘duty to cooperate’.