In the last post in this series we showed how the seemingly bureaucratic task of scrutinising government decisions can be a hugely effective way of delivering efficient outcomes.
Similarly, creating an environment that is conducive to new partnerships between the public, private and voluntary sectors is a quiet, yet incredibly effective way of driving efficiencies in local government.
As councils face a period of budget cuts and uncertainty, it is more vital than ever that they look to develop new, more cost-effective ways to deliver services.
Cross-sector partnerships have a strong track record of spurring innovation and, as such, maintaining or improving outcomes for local citizens whilst reducing overall costs. It seems, then, that the future of service delivery is destined to include an expanded role for partnership working.
Last year’s winner of the Partnership Achievement of the Year award, Councillor Ray Franklin (East Devon District Council), demonstrated the central role that councillors can play in the increasingly important process of partnership building.
Cllr Franklin managed the Growth Point team in his local area, which was created as a focal point for a range of partnership schemes. The group itself comprised of a number of public and private organisations, all with different objectives. However, Cllr Franklin used his position as chair of the joint partnership of local councils, public bodies, and private sector partners to provide a broad strategic vision that pressed the different organisations to coalesce around a common set of goals.
Crucially, the unity and clarity of purpose that resulted from Cllr Franklin’s effective management of partner relations gave outside investors the confidence to fund a range of large-scale local projects, even during a period of general economic insecurity.
In a similar vein, the councillor who wins this category at the 2012 LGiU and CCLA C’llr Awards will demonstrate:
- significant personal commitment and drive to make working in partnership an integral part of how the council delivers outcomes locally
- improvements in service delivery, efficiency savings and delivery of outcomes as a result of the partnership working that this councillor has been involved with
So if you feel that a specific councillor has been particularly effective in forging and maintaining new partnerships that have led to real benefits for their local community, then please show your appreciation of their fantastic work by nominating them for this year’s Partnership Achievement of the Year award.
Anybody can do this by simply completing one of our new, streamlined nomination forms, which can be downloaded, along with further instructions, here.
The closing date for entries in this category is 30th December, 2011.
For more information on the 2012 LGiU and CCLA C’llr Achievement Awards, please visit www.lgiu.org/cllrawards, or email awards@lgiu.org.
