Newcastle Partnership Structure
Click on this link to see a diagram of the Newcastle Partnership Structure.
The Partnership has established a number of Boards and other representative groups to develop, deliver, and review its work. These comprise:
The Strategic Board
The role of the Strategic Board is to ensure that the necessary leadership level input is made to the Partnership by all partners to maximise the strategic fit and added value of Partnership working. The Board is therefore responsible for agreeing LSP level strategic documents and for promoting liaison and collaboration with key actors and stakeholders at sub-regional, regional and national scales.
It decides on the allocation of LSP resources, centrally "pooled" by Government, and is supported by the Delivery Board with critical performance information.
The Delivery Board
The Delivery Board is responsible for ensuring that the Partnership actively manages its performance. It maintains an LSP wide overview of performance against targets which relate to the SCS, LAA or other local area performance and budget related activity (e.g. Reward Grant). It provides support and guidance on performance, developing an annual LAA action plan for each of the Delivery Partnerships and any other deliverers of SCS/LAA targets and regularly monitors their performance; promoting collaborative approaches to address complex service improvement issues. It provides summary performance reports to the Strategic Board at key stages in the strategic cycle to assist in the shaping of the SCS and LAA and related funding decisions.
The Delivery Board is supported by 5 Delivery Partnerships:
- Safe Newcastle;
- Economy, Work, Skills & Learning;
- Children's Trust Partnership;
- Wellbeing, Health and Independence;
- Environment & Housing.
The Delivery Partnerships are responsible for developing their thematic approaches to the SCS and LAA and then for taking forward delivery of a set of outcomes in the SCS/LAA within a framework which incorporates local and, in several cases, statutory governance requirements. The Delivery Partnerships require an infrastructure to enable engagement and consultation within a wider LSP strategic framework - provided through the Strategic Board.
They develop annual action plans which are monitored by the Delivery Board and maintain a close dialogue with the Innovation Group to ensure that the LSP remains responsive and is fully engaged.
Innovation Group
The Innovation Group reflects the need for the Newcastle Partnership to be responsive to initiatives and demands from whatever source. The Innovation Group meets to consider the appropriateness or "strategic fit" of emerging issues or strategies and seeks to "locate" them within the Partnership structure. The group primarily supports the Strategic Board in reviewing new opportunities for action and also liaises closely with the Delivery Partnerships on issues or concerns emerging from individual partners' or sectors' agendas.
In order to facilitate the fullest consideration or specific issues and involvement of relevant partners it is likely that the Innovation Group will set up a number of time limited groups to consider a specific topic in detail and prepare a focused report for consideration by the Strategic Board. This report should set out a resume of the issue, the relevance to Newcastle, the options considered, resources required and the clear iteration of the preferred option for the Newcastle Partnership to adopt. The work of this group provides the opportunity to shape the future direction and agenda for public services in Newcastle. As such it affords the local authority the opportunity to take a lead in performing its civic leadership role.
Meeting dates 2010
Scrutiny Group (in conjunction with Newcastle City Council)
The Scrutiny Group is a collaborative approach with Newcastle City Council to ensure that there is effective scrutiny of partners using the Council's power of "wellbeing" and also that action is taken to address any underlying concerns about the potential "democratic deficit" implicit in strategic multi-partner working. The Council's Scrutiny activity is therefore expanded and strengthened by the involvement of other LSP stakeholders with appropriate knowledge and skills to support the process. Further work is required and is underway, to develop this aspect of the Partnership's work.