Local Strategic Partnership (Steve Chalke)

11 March 2010

This article first appeared in Christianity & Renewal (May 2004)

When Poole Council approached the local churches with a challenge, they were ready to respond. “If you’re serious about working to bring healing and restoration in people’s lives”, the council asked, “what can you do to help children who have been adopted or fostered and who often face a significant amount of stress due to the uncertain start to their lives?” The churches, working under the banner of Faithworks Poole, thought and prayed about the issue and came up with a response. After raising Ł50,000 as their share of the start up and ongoing costs of the project, a part time worker was employed just a few weeks ago. Her remit is to support fostered and adopted children by offering them mentoring and advice. She also works alongside the children’s new families and, where appropriate, their birth families to give them the back up they need. A small step towards creating the stability they need to thrive.

The forum that gave birth to this creative conversation and coalition was ‘The Poole Partnership’ – what is know as a ‘Local Strategic Partnership’ (LSP), now mandatory for all local authorities. Through its LSP every council is required by central government to meet, listen to and work with as wide a spectrum of local community organisations as possible. As Jonathan Martin, the chairman of Faithworks Poole and member of the Poole Partnership Steering Group, puts it “it’s amazing what you can accomplish when the different players in the community all sit down in the same room and talk.” Jonathan is a man who wears many hats; as well as his role with Faithworks Poole and the LSP, he acts as chaplain to the local authority and is also minister to a small United Reformed Church.

The LSP steering group, which is made up of representatives from all sections of the community in Poole (business, education, healthcare, faith groups etc.), is designed to give input to the local council as it formulates its strategy for the ongoing development of the area.

Through involvement with The Poole Partnership the local churches enjoy a very active and effective role in the shaping of their community. For example, Faithworks Poole has also recently embarked upon a programme of care for vulnerable elderly people in the town. Their involvement with The Poole Partnership has meant that the project’s volunteers have been able to be trained by the Pensions Agency, giving them a much deeper understanding of the statutory help available to their clients. Without the partnership, this link, and the resulting breadth of service, would probably never have been possible.

The churches’ involvement with The Poole Partnership is good news for everyone – it creates a genuine ‘win, win, win’ situation. The local authority win because they gain a greater understanding of the needs of the community and can, therefore, do more to meet those needs. The churches’ win because their understanding of community needs and workable solutions deepens and matures; they can have real influence on the council’s policy decisions as well as finding ways in which they can practically help to meet local needs. And the people of Poole win because services are improved, community is built and individual aspirations are achieved. As the Bible itself puts it ‘People learn from one another, just as iron sharpens iron.’ (Proverbs 27:17).

Jargon Buster

We live in a world addicted to jargon. Computer nerds, businessmen, the military, politicians, Christians – all have their own specialist language. P.D.As, C.P.As, R.P.Gs, L.S.Ps and L.E.Ps; pdf. files, low-hanging fruit, collateral damage, early day motions and ministry times – society is littered with abbreviations and ‘in crowd’ terminology. The problem comes when one group or tribe wants to communicate with another. If the Church is going to talk to the government, other voluntary agencies, social services, the NHS etc. we are going to have to become bi-lingual. Each month Chalke and Change unpacks one key phrase of community development language and explores how it can be useful to churches. This month what is a ‘local strategic partnership’?

Every local council in England and Wales (with councils in Scotland and Northern Ireland following close behind) has been given a new responsibility to help promote the economic, social and environmental well being of their area by preparing a Community Strategy. This means that each local council must articulate a vision for the long-term development of its city, town or district. But in order to construct this strategy, the law states that they must consult and work with local people.

Local Strategic Partnerships are the vehicle through which local councils are required both to listen to the views of the community and to engage with local organisations to meet its needs. Typically an LSP (many of which go by friendlier names such as ‘The Poole Partnership’) contains representatives from local business, public services (health, education, police etc.), the voluntary sector (charities, churches and other faith groups) and the local council. Together their task is to find ways in which they can work in a joined up way to enhance the quality of life and breadth of services offered to the local community.

LSPs have a core group who meet regularly as well as a network of smaller local community or neighbour groups. There is an LSP in your area, and there is no reason why your local churches should not be represented on the central group and each church involved in the local networks that feed ideas into it. LSPs are a great way to get involved in your community, to build better relationships with the council and other local agencies and to contribute to the future strategy for your town’s development.