Community Planning
What is Community Planning?
Community Planning is a way of working that places the recipient at the heart of enhanced service delivery as the partners work together more effectively and efficiently. This is not an “extra” or “marginal” approach, but a development process aimed at influencing how mainstream resources are deployed for integrated service delivery and improved outcomes for the whole community. The essence of Community Planning is:
“Partnership working between public agencies, the voluntary sector, the community, and businesses across an area, with a shared vision which is used to identify priorities to enhance service delivery for the sustained benefit and wellbeing of the community.”
The inputs are improved joint working between agencies and the public - building a strategic focus for work across Inverclyde, identifying where, and for whom, we can make a difference through better partnership working. The outputs are locally delivered services that better meet the needs of individuals in the local community. It is not a static process; it works towards the continuous improvement of Inverclyde and includes a scrutiny element to ensure effective and efficient performance.
The Community Planning process starts with the needs of the service recipient, so community engagement is core to the process; if we don’t know how people are experiencing services on the front-line and what aspirations communities have, we can’t make the necessary changes or support the right kind of activity to make a difference to peoples’ lives. The most important engagement takes place at the point of delivery.
The Inverclyde Alliance
The Inverclyde Alliance (IA) is the Community Planning Partnership for Inverclyde. It was established in 2003 and re-launched in August 2007. The IA is a representative partnership involving:
- Greenock Chamber of Commerce
- Communities Scotland
- Community Councils
- Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS
- Inverclyde Council
- Inverclyde Housing Associations Forum
- James Watt College
- Job Centre Plus
- Riverside Inverclyde
- Scottish Enterprise Renfrewshire
- Strathclyde Fire and Rescue
- Strathclyde Partnership for Transport
- Strathclyde Police
- Voluntary Sector representation facilitated by CVS Inverclyde
The aim of the IA is to deliver better outcomes for the communities of Inverclyde by:
- promoting partnership working in Inverclyde, orchestrating inter and intra-partner activities, investigating opportunities for integrated public service delivery;
- growing a culture of enterprise and partnership, where agencies pro-actively come together to tackle the big issues for Inverclyde;
- involving community, voluntary and business sectors in decisions facing the area;
- developing a strategic view on issues associated with the reform of public sector services and advocating Inverclyde’s position.
The Alliance is in the process of developing a refreshed Community Plan for Inverclyde, drawing on the changes to the public sector in Inverclyde, developments in policy at a national and UK level, and work that has taken place in the area.
Supporting networks are being established to help develop the work of the Alliance, to ensure that communities are engaged in the process effectively, and to share and use information in a more organised way.
The Thematic Partnerships are re-launching and will be looking at partnerships working across Inverclyde under the themes of Enterprise and Learning, Health and Wellbeing, Regeneration and Safe and Sustainable Communities. These partnerships will be working to deliver the Community Plan as well as making partnership working better and more streamlined.
You can access Inverclyde Alliance Board papers by using the menu on the left.