Organisations such as police authorities, police forces, health trusts, fire services and local councils are involved in lots of partnership work. There are a number of reasons why partnership work takes place. In some cases, there is a legal duty for agencies to work together. In other cases, they do so because it's the most efficient and effective way of doing something. Greater Manchester Police Authority is involved in lots of partnership projects. This page gives you an insight into GMPA's partnership working.
AGMA acts as the voice of the 10 local authorities/councils which make up Greater Manchester. AGMA works in partnership with a wide range of organisations, both private, public and voluntary within the City Region and beyond. AGMA Chief Executives and Council Leaders meet regularly to work together on a range of key strategic and policy issues which impact on Greater Manchester. AGMA also provide a range of joint services across the area via AGMA Units and through cross-authority professional groups.
In Greater Manchester, the 10 local authorities work together with a common objective of ensuring that by 2020 the City Region will be able to confidently call itself a world class region at the heart of a thriving North of England. AGMA is one of the two pilot statutory City Regions announced by the Government in the 2009 Budget. Joint working and collaboration across policy areas such as shared services and cultural change to environmental and economic policy interventions; and transport infrastructure is developing. AGMA has seven commissions made up of partners across the areas to ensure the effective delivery of the Multi-Area Agreement for the Greater Manchester region.
The role of the AGMA Public Protection Commission is to provide direction and a cohesive partnership approach to issues which affect the community safety of the region. Within Greater Manchester crime, in particular the fear of crime; is highlighted as a major issue in the Greater Manchester Strategy and there is now an increased emphasis on partnership working to provide a safer community for all. In order for this to be effective across the AGMA region as a whole, partnerships need to be developed at both a local and strategic level. In addition, a safer AGMA region is likely to be more sustainable in terms of the economic vibrancy. The Public Protection Commission is being developed with this in mind. GMPA chairman Cllr Paul Murphy is chair of the PPC leadership group. The commission has three themed areas of work and accompanying action plans.
Community Safety Partnerships, originally named Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs), were set up in 1998 under the Crime and Disorder Act to tackle crime and disorder issues. They bring together statutory, voluntary and private organisations. Police forces, local councils, police authorities, fire and rescue services and primary care trusts must be involved by law and they are encouraged to also engage with local agencies and voluntary groups so a truly community-based multi-agency approach to crime reduction exists. There is a CSP for each local authority in England and Wales. The partnerships work to prevent and reduce crime and disorder in their area. Their aim is to reduce crime, fear of crime, anti-social behaviour and other behaviour which affects the quality of life in a community. Each CSP has crime reduction targets which contribute to the Government's overall aim to reduce crime. In summary, the duties of a CSP are to:
CSPs usually have a CSP team within the local authority led by a CSP Manager. Some partnerships do not refer to themselves as CSPs. Many have a local name, for example “BSAFE” in Bolton. Each CSP is directed by a panel of local representatives and partners, from which a chair and deputy chair are elected. Membership of CSPs includes: Councillors, Crown Prosecution Service and courts, Drugs Action Team, fire service, health authority, local authority CDRP team, local authority departments, e.g. housing, social services, education, other voluntary organisations, Police, Police Authority, Probation, Victim Support, Youth Offending Team.
There are CSPs in each of the ten boroughs of Greater Manchester. Each is tasked with the delivery of a three-year community safety strategy.
LSPs are non-statutory bodies made up of public, private, voluntary and community organisations which provide important services to the public such as community safety, health care, transport, education and environmental protection. The agencies involved work together to deliver services more effectively and improve the quality of life in the area. They do this by joining up their activities to make the best use of resources and by sharing their knowledge and expertise. LSPs were introduced as part of the Local Government Act 2000 and Government increasingly sees them as the forum for collectively reviewing and steering public resources in local areas. The local council usually leads the LSP and although the partnership works at a strategic level through senior representatives, it remains close enough to local people to allow them to be involved in decisions that affect their communities. Each LSP is responsible for developing, implementing and monitoring a Sustainable Community Strategy (SCS) setting out the long-term vision and the way agencies will work together. The local area agreement (LAA) is the mechanism for achieving the vision. All the outcomes and targets are designed to deliver the LAA. Some partnerships do not refer to themselves as LSPs. Many have a local name, for example the “Stockport Partnership”. LSPs are non-statutory partnerships and so are free to define their own constitutions and their own remit but as Government expectations of LSPs increases, many of the bodies involved now have a legal duty to do so as part of their partnership work. LSPs should represent the views and ambitions of the full range of service providers and the local community. All those involved in the LSP are able to influence and shape local priorities as the local Sustainable Community Strategy and the Local Area Agreement is developed to ensure this is the case. Although they may involve many partners and local organisations, LSPs generally: hold meetings involving all partners; have a smaller ‘executive’ or core board that coordinates the preparation of the SCS and LAA; hold sub-meetings looking at specific issues with relevant partners; organise local neighbourhood forums and other consultation events. There are 10 LSPs within Greater Manchester. The crime and policing targets within the LAAs are usually addressed by the CSP in the area.
An LAA sets out the ‘deal’ between central government and local authorities and their partners to improve the quality of life for local people. Through LAAs, communities can channel resources towards their own priorities alongside national targets. LAAs are three-year agreements, developed by local councils with their partners in a local strategic partnership (LSP - see above for more detail). Each LAA is negotiated with the Government Office for the region, before being agreed and signed off by the Secretary of State. Within each area, LAAs are overseen by LSPs. The local authority is the lead partner in the LSP and the statutory ‘responsible body’ for the LAA. LAAs allow for more collaborative action and service delivery by bringing together partners from the public, private and voluntary sectors. Each year, LAAs are reviewed in discussion between Government Offices and the LSP to ensure they remain up to date and take account of changing circumstances.
This page was last updated on 15 June 2011