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North Dorset Community Partnerships Legacy Report October 2017

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North Dorset Community Partnerships Legacy Report October 2017 North Dorset Community Partnerships Legacy report October 2017 1. Executive Summary 2. Main Report 2.1 Purpose of Report 2.2 Background 2.3 What did the Community Partnerships do? 2.4 How did the Community Partnership model work? 2.5 Why did the District Council support the Community Partnerships model? 2.6 Lessons learnt: strengths, weaknesses and issues Appendices 1. Community Partnership areas 2. Timeline 3. Community Partnership principles Hugh de Iongh Community led Development Officer, North Dorset Community Planning & Development Team Dorset Councils Partnership 12th October 2017 1 North Dorset Community Partnerships Legacy report 1. Executive Summary Within North Dorset, an area/place based Community Partnership ‘model’ had been developed over two decades, with four community partnerships covering the market towns and their surrounding villages, supported by some core funding from the District Council. Each of the Community Partnerships was supported by a part time Community Resource Worker, seconded from the District Council. The District Council ceased funding for the Community Partnerships and the Community Resource Workers from April 2017 onwards, due to funding constraints. This report is both a record of a significant part of the way the District Council worked, and also to take the lessons learnt, positive and problems alike, for any future local structures, particularly if in a unitary authority scenario. Lessons learnt, strengths, weaknesses and issues of the ‘Model’ The key strengths and issues of the ‘model’ were as follows: Strengths Volunteers. There was a high level of commitment & skills from a core of volunteers. And the Community Partnerships provided an opportunity for volunteers to get involved, who would not normally otherwise have joined their local Town or Parish Council. Community Resource Workers. A particularly valued element, as a key point of contact, wide networks, practical support for projects, fundraising expertise, etc, as part of an area/place based approach Community Partnerships. The Community Partnerships provided: An overview for an area, of strategic & local issues, and co-ordinating action Partnership working, bringing together a wide range of partners to work on local issues A strong role in supporting and delivering projects locally The ability to secure funding Building capacity & resilience; some communities now have a stronger ‘can do’ attitude The value of an area/placed based local structure for facilitating local action, and also the flow of information up and down. 2 Support for Civil Society. The model provided support for the numerous voluntary and community organisations working at a very local level. Weaknesses & Issues Relationship with Local Councils. A good working relationship between the Community Partnership and the Town Council is crucial, and caused difficulties where this did not exist. Any local structures need to address this. The Community Partnerships generally found it difficult to engage with Parishes. Some Parishes became involved if a specific issue affected them, but not otherwise, and this became the way of working. Balancing strategic work and action. Getting the balance right between having a forum for discussion with a range of local organisations involved, and having a focus on action can be difficult. Likewise the balance between ongoing consultation & keeping the Community Action Plans up to date as against action on the ground was also difficult. Getting the structure right can help with this. Accountability. Whilst the Community Partnerships provided an opportunity for Participative Democracy, there was always a concern from some that the Community partnerships were not elected and so not accountable. Most of the Community Partnerships had a membership structure, which created administrative work, but did provide a measure of accountability through elections to the Board, etc. There were also other checks and balances through external decision makers. There are lessons here for any future local structures. Balance of managing risk, trust and independence. The District Council provided a significant part of the funding for the Community Partnerships, but understood they were independent organisations, and trusted them to deliver, including some very significant projects with some risk. That trust, and accepting a level of risk, was crucial. Likewise, the District Council was not able to direct the Community Partnerships, as independent organisations, to work on District Council strategic priorities, although in reality work at a local level met many of the District Council’s strategic priorities in any case. Market Town Area. Although many of the historic ties between market towns and villages are not so strong now, this level of area does continue to have a rationale and provides a useful building block for clustering, e.g. if developing local structures to work under a Unitary authority. 3 2. Main Report 2.1 Purpose of Report North Dorset supported a Community Partnership ‘model’ in the District for around two decades, and this was a significant element of the way the District Council worked. Due to ever reducing funding resources, the District Council ceased funding for the model from April 2017. This report summarises how the Community Partnership model worked, for two purposes: As a record of a significant part of the way the District Council worked Lessons learnt, positive and problems alike, for any future local structures, particularly if in a unitary authority scenario 2.2 Background Rural community development started in North Dorset with the appointment of the first Community Development Worker for the Sturminster area back in 1995, and then the start of a nascent community partnership in Sturminster in 1997, triggered by the closure of the Sturminster Newton livestock market that year. This community partnership drove to achieve a development of the livestock market site which met the identified needs of the community, as far as realistically possible within commercial and planning constraints. Building on this example of local involvement and action, the Community Partnerships model was developed with local communities in early 2000’s, with four community partnerships based on market towns and their surrounding areas. The community partnerships were not another layer, but were another way of working, enabling key organisations, such as Parish & Town Councils, voluntary and community organisations, statutory authorities, businesses and individuals to work together on issues in their area. The Community Partnerships were constituted as not for profit organisations, to enable them to apply for funding, enter into contracts, etc. They were run by volunteers, with support from four part time Community Resource Workers who were employed by Dorset Community Action & then the District Council, seconded across to the Community Partnerships. The Community Partnerships covered the following areas: Blandford Forum & surrounding villages: DT11 Forum Gillingham & surrounding villages: Three Rivers Partnership Shaftesbury & surrounding villages (inc. cross border into West Wilts & South Somerset): Shaftesbury & District Task Force Sturminster Newton & surrounding villages: SturQuest Stalbridge did not have a partnership as such, but worked in a partnership way on projects, and was included in the partnership model. An umbrella partnership, the Community Partnerships Executive North Dorset (CPEND) covered North Dorset. CPEND included the Community Partnerships and other key organisations. 4 Where the catchment area of a market town extended into another County, e.g. villages in Wiltshire looked to Shaftesbury, the Community Partnerships worked to their area, and were not restricted by County boundaries. A map of the areas is at Appendix 1, and a Timeline is at Appendix 2. 2.3 What did the Community Partnerships do? The role of the Community Partnerships was to work on the community, economic and environmental development of their area, normally a market town and its surrounding villages. The work tended to focus on community development in the early years, with some environmental work, and an increased focus on economic development in recent years. The principles of the roles of the Community Partnerships cover the following main aspects: Identify local issues. This is through consultation, new and existing, and developing Area Action Plans Work on local issues. Acting as a facilitator, and building consensus. Working in partnership, hosting projects and providing support, and delivering some projects themselves (e.g. RiversMeet Leisure Centre) Consultation. Helping the District Council & others consult locally. Feed local issues up to the District Council & others. Work inclusively. Work with range of relevant local and other organisations. Being pro- active in involving disadvantaged groups. Work collaboratively. Work well with statutory organisations, particularly Town& Parish Councils, community & voluntary organisations, business sector Be Enterprising. Ability to move quickly, apply for funding which statutory organisations cannot, etc For the full Community Partnership Principles, see Appendix 3 The Community Partnerships have supported the development of a wide range of projects, with a few examples as follows: DT11 Forum: DT11 Transport Action Group, Trailway work (economic impact study, developing projects to improve economic benefit), Trailway Ultrafast Broadband project (very significant project developed,
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