Staffordshire’s Third Sector Commissioning Partnership has succeeded in securing buy-in from all of the public sector organisations operating in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent.
The move is a major step in making commissioning and procurement in the public and voluntary sector more transparent, consistent and efficient.
The partnership includes Staffordshire County Council, Stoke-on-Trent City Council, all eight District Councils, three Primary Care Trusts, the Fire and Rescue Service, Staffordshire Police and the Probation Service.
It has adopted a Total Place approach by mapping money spent by the public sector on voluntary sector services. The purpose is to make commissioning and procurement fairer and more transparent, and to create efficiencies by rolling multiple contracts into one.
Data received by the partnership so far reveal 26 public sector organisations have invested £70 million in 1,000 voluntary and community organisations across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent.
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Wednesday, 8 December 2010
Wolverhampton wins compact crown five years running
For the fifth time in a row, Wolverhampton Compact has won an award for excellence in the National Compact Awards, in recognition of the work it is doing for the people of Wolverhampton.
The Compact is a partnership between the city council, police, fire, health, and voluntary and community sector bodies. Its purpose is to ensure people work well together and for the good of the community when developing services.
The Compact was praised by judges for demonstrating effective partnership working in a number of areas, including:
• appointing a compact champion in each area of service provided by the city council
• working with Members to develop training that highlights the importance of listening to local people’s views and enabling communities to influence policies, procedure and practice
• preparing a compact champion support pack for the public sector
• working with the Centre for Dispute Resolution to train mediators in the city.
Read more
The Compact is a partnership between the city council, police, fire, health, and voluntary and community sector bodies. Its purpose is to ensure people work well together and for the good of the community when developing services.
The Compact was praised by judges for demonstrating effective partnership working in a number of areas, including:
• appointing a compact champion in each area of service provided by the city council
• working with Members to develop training that highlights the importance of listening to local people’s views and enabling communities to influence policies, procedure and practice
• preparing a compact champion support pack for the public sector
• working with the Centre for Dispute Resolution to train mediators in the city.
Read more
Cuts in red tape to give councils more freedom
A raft of reporting and inspection requirements have been abolished by government to give councils greater freedom and flexibility in the way they operate.
The aim is to make local authorities more efficient and effective in delivering public services.
Removal of centrally driven targets include Local Area Agreements, National Indicators and the Comprehensive Area Assessment.
The Local Government Association estimates compliance with government data demands and inspections costs local authorities nearly £300 million a year.
Read more
The aim is to make local authorities more efficient and effective in delivering public services.
Removal of centrally driven targets include Local Area Agreements, National Indicators and the Comprehensive Area Assessment.
The Local Government Association estimates compliance with government data demands and inspections costs local authorities nearly £300 million a year.
Read more
Community Budgets start next year
Community Budgets, set up with the specific brief of tackling social problems affecting families with complex needs, will go live in April 2011.
Covering 16 areas in England, the budgets will be controlled by and made up of funds pooled by 28 councils and partner organisations.
Money will be spent on solutions to help vulnerable families. The aim is to join up services and intervene at an early stage so that lives can be improved and long term problems averted.
Community Budgets develop the principles promoted by Total Place, and are seen by government as an opportunity to redesign and integrate front line services and management functions. Emphasis is on reducing the cost of services and improving results for local people.
The 16 areas have been chosen because of their strong track record in building local relationships with key players in public, voluntary and community organisations; and includes the West Midlands area of Birmingham.
The budgets will be rolled out nationally by 2013-14.
Read more
Covering 16 areas in England, the budgets will be controlled by and made up of funds pooled by 28 councils and partner organisations.
Money will be spent on solutions to help vulnerable families. The aim is to join up services and intervene at an early stage so that lives can be improved and long term problems averted.
Community Budgets develop the principles promoted by Total Place, and are seen by government as an opportunity to redesign and integrate front line services and management functions. Emphasis is on reducing the cost of services and improving results for local people.
The 16 areas have been chosen because of their strong track record in building local relationships with key players in public, voluntary and community organisations; and includes the West Midlands area of Birmingham.
The budgets will be rolled out nationally by 2013-14.
Read more
Total Place lives on in new Community Budgets
Principles underpinning the Total Place approach to local services will be adopted by the Community Budgets, a government initiative allowing councils and their partners to pool funding and resources with the purpose of improving services and reducing cost.
From April next year, a selected number of councils and partner organisations will put various strands of funding into a single ‘local bank account’. This will be used to set up community budgets that will be spent on services prioritised by local communities.
The initiative follows year-long Total Place pilots, testing how to improve services while reducing costs and encouraging greater collaboration between organisations, and wider involvement of local people.
Earlier this year, Secretary for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles, described Total Place as “a step in the right direction”, but says councils now have the opportunity to be more radical and innovative.
Read more
From April next year, a selected number of councils and partner organisations will put various strands of funding into a single ‘local bank account’. This will be used to set up community budgets that will be spent on services prioritised by local communities.
The initiative follows year-long Total Place pilots, testing how to improve services while reducing costs and encouraging greater collaboration between organisations, and wider involvement of local people.
Earlier this year, Secretary for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles, described Total Place as “a step in the right direction”, but says councils now have the opportunity to be more radical and innovative.
Read more
Learning lessons from Total Place
Results from 13 Total Place pilots across England show better services can be delivered at less cost, if public sector organisations work collaboratively and put citizens at the heart of designing services.
The report, Total Place: a whole area approach to public services, details work undertaken in the pilot areas, covering 63 local authorities, 34 Primary Care Trusts, 12 fire authorities and 13 police authorities. Each pilot had its own theme and mapped all of the public spending in their area.
Analysis of spending on key local priorities was also carried out, and views were sought from the customer’s perspective. This gave participating organisations a clearer picture of how benefits from spending might be enhanced.
Testing of Total Place in services for older people was led by three councils and two primary care trusts in Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole.
In addition to mapping spending, expenditure on avoidable admissions and residential care was also examined.
Ways of shifting the balance of care towards the community were identified, for example, instituting joint case management of people with long term conditions by integrated health and social care teams.
The pilot concluded savings could be made by reducing avoidable hospital admissions by 15%.
The report also outlines a new approach to delivering public services that includes:
• freedom from centralised performance and financial controls
• freedom and incentives to encourage local collaboration
• freedom to invest in prevention
• freedom to drive growth
Most of these freedoms have been taken up in the new Community Budgets to be introduced in April 2011, and have been backed up by the abolition of a raft of reporting and inspection requirements, including national indicators used to monitor council performance.
Read more
The report, Total Place: a whole area approach to public services, details work undertaken in the pilot areas, covering 63 local authorities, 34 Primary Care Trusts, 12 fire authorities and 13 police authorities. Each pilot had its own theme and mapped all of the public spending in their area.
Analysis of spending on key local priorities was also carried out, and views were sought from the customer’s perspective. This gave participating organisations a clearer picture of how benefits from spending might be enhanced.
Testing of Total Place in services for older people was led by three councils and two primary care trusts in Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole.
In addition to mapping spending, expenditure on avoidable admissions and residential care was also examined.
Ways of shifting the balance of care towards the community were identified, for example, instituting joint case management of people with long term conditions by integrated health and social care teams.
The pilot concluded savings could be made by reducing avoidable hospital admissions by 15%.
The report also outlines a new approach to delivering public services that includes:
• freedom from centralised performance and financial controls
• freedom and incentives to encourage local collaboration
• freedom to invest in prevention
• freedom to drive growth
Most of these freedoms have been taken up in the new Community Budgets to be introduced in April 2011, and have been backed up by the abolition of a raft of reporting and inspection requirements, including national indicators used to monitor council performance.
Read more
Thursday, 11 November 2010
Free masterclass - Health and wellbeing, a new agenda for an ageing society
With an eye on forthcoming changes to the NHS, this masterclass looks at the role local authorities can play in improving results for older people.
Organised by Local Government Improvement and Development (LGID), the free masterclass takes place on 8 December 2010, at the Midland Hotel in Manchester.
It covers:
Read more
Organised by Local Government Improvement and Development (LGID), the free masterclass takes place on 8 December 2010, at the Midland Hotel in Manchester.
It covers:
- role of public health and health and wellbeing board
- joint commissioning between GP consortia and local authorities
- improving efficiency while protecting outcomes
- engagement of older citizens in identifying needs and planning local services.
Read more
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