Swindon has its own Local Strategic Partnership (LSP).  It was originally formed in 2003 in answer to government legislation.  It is made up of representatives from the voluntary, community, business and public sectors.

Many of the issues facing local communities today can only be tackled if everyone works together, it is important that there is an effective way to enable this.  The Partnership aims to bring together all the organisations and groups that are involved in making decisions that affect the future well-being of the people of Swindon.

The Partnership produced A Shared Vision for Swindon 2008-2030, Swindon’s Community Strategy in 2008 - this is the one overall vision of how we want our Borough to be by 2030. From this big picture, all types of organisations, from public services like the police and health agencies to community groups and parishes, will take their cue to develop plans and policies to help make this vision a reality.  Follow the link to download a copy of the document and also to find out more about the Partnership.

The One Swindon Partnership exists to:

• Hold the Strategic Vision for Swindon
• Deliver the One Swindon outcomes
• Promote effective multi-agency working across Swindon

The Partnership comprises

• The Leadership Board
• One Swindon Delivery Board
• The Swindon Forum
• The Overview & Monitoring Group

How does the Partnership Work?

Updated Governance for the Partnership was agreed at the Board meeting in September 2011. An updated chart is available here.

The Leadership Board

Membership of the Board is comprised of Chief Executives and Chairs of Boards of the main public service organisations as well as representatives from JobCentrePlus, Great Western Hospital, Influence and Voluntary Action Swindon. The Board meets on a quarterly basis and is chaired by the Leader of the Council and fulfils the following main functions :

• hold the strategic vision and direction of travel for Swindon
• hold each other to account as organisations
• be accountable for the delivery of One Swindon
• contribute resources as appropriate, solely the Performance Reward Grant and other sources of external funding
• commission work which will help with the delivery of One Swindon outcomes and remove barriers to contributions from the voluntary, community, and private sectors
• understand Swindon’s people and places, including the strategic changes required, how to make those changes

One Swindon Delivery Board

The Delivery Board meets monthly and is comprised of One Swindon outcome leads and partners who are integral to the delivery of those outcomes. The main functions of the Board are:

• to translate strategy into delivery
• manage the delivery of the One Swindon outcomes
• performance manage One Swindon, including taking corrective action to ensure performance is back on track, with exception reporting to the Leadership Board initially on a 6 monthly basis.
• to link with new Locality Leads to enable better understanding of local priorities and local delivery mechanisms
• enable task and finish groups to ‘unstick’ any ‘stuck issues’.
• to keep the Leadership Board updated by giving them the key action points from each meeting for information.
  

The Overview & Monitoring Group

The Overview & Monitoring is comprised of elected community representatives from around the Borough.  

The main purpose of the Group is a ‘critical friend’ role which actively encourages and engages groups through their networks to enable the Council and partners to see the ‘community perspective’.

The group is accountable to the Swindon Forum, The Leadership Board and also to the community groups they represent.  They provide an independent challenge through proactive methods/processes to the Board, the Council and its partners.  

The group organises two Swindon Forum conferences each year.  The Swindon Forum is the name we give to the Conferences. They are attended by a variety of people from voluntary/community sector, statutory and non-statutory organisations around Swindon.  The Conferences give people the opportunity to talk to the Board members, interact with Partners and members of the Overview & Monitoring Group.  It also gives them the opportunity to help shape outcomes for Swindon and be at the forefront of policy initiatives and development for the Borough.  If you would like to receive information about future conferences, please contact jbeattie@swindon.gov.uk

If you would like more information about Partnership Working in Swindon, please contact Alison Chamberlain on 01793 466301