North West Improvement and Efficiency Partnership

 

The creation of the Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnerships is an exciting opportunity for local authorities and public sector partners to broaden  their improvement and efficiency horizons.

 

The North West Improvement and Efficiency Partnership will provide local authorities with a major body of support to enable them to reach those horizons in ways that will benefit their communities.

 

We have consulted with partner agencies and local authorities across the north west to develop a three-year strategy that focuses on efficiency and improvement and which we will work with you to deliver.

 

CLG has delivered a substantial sum of money for the North West Improvement and Efficiency Partnership to make this happen.

 

The North West Improvement and Efficiency Partnership is a brand new partnership formed from the merging of the North West Centre of Excellence and the North West Improvement Network.

 

The Partnership is funded by CLG and will work with councils from the region to deliver a three-year strategy that will focus on shaping improvements and efficiencies around the priority outcomes from north west LAAs and the broader transformation agenda.

 

The NWIEP will have a Partnership Management Board, made up of two, nominated chief executives from each sub-region, as well as a number of representatives from partner authorities from the region. This Board will be overseen by a new Member Group in the North West Regional Assembly and will be chaired by Cllr Tim Stoddard, leader of Cumbria County Council.

We will work with local authorities to deliver the three-year strategy that has been developed in consultation with all councils from the region and our improvement and efficiency partners.

 

The strategy focuses on the priority outcomes from the north west’s Local Area Agreements, on the transformation agenda and on providing support for the enablers of improvement. It will mainly be delivered through the five sub-regional partnerships in the region. Building on work started by the NWCE last year, more detailed proposals are now being finalised by the sub-regions and will be submitted to the Partnership Management Board in May.

 

 

The NWIEP strategy identifies six priority outcomes for local authorities in the north west: economic development and regeneration, health and social care, community safety, community empowerment and neighbourhood development, children and young people’s services and environmental quality and climate change.

 

The Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnerships have been created to accelerate improvement and efficiency initiatives and support councils to achieve the priority outcomes, via the three-year strategy for the region which has been developed in line with the National Improvement and Efficiency Strategy.

 

The strategy, formed in consultation with partners across the region, sets out our ambition for the North West Improvement and Efficiency Partnership, along with our priorities for the next three years. It also includes our delivery plan, outline budget and high-level, risk assessment for 2008/09.

How we will do it?

 

The North West Improvement and Efficiency Partnership has been allocated £22 million over the next three years by CLG as part of a wider £185million funding package to all nine Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnerships. The North West Improvement and Efficiency Partnership has been allocated just under £6 million in year one and, subject to CLG approval £8 million in each of the two subsequent years. In year one, 60 per cent of the funding will be allocated to the five sub-regions and the remainder will be used to commission support across the region and to establish a small, core team to support the governance arrangements, manage communications and oversee performance management.

 

Local authorities and their partners have the primary responsibilities and most of the resources for improving services. The NWIEP will, therefore, concentrate on those areas where it can make a real difference, including linking transformation change with the drive for efficiency, supporting collaboration, developing the skills of Members and managers, promoting innovation and helping councils and services in difficulty.

 

 

Now! As per CLG plans, April 1, 2008 marks the official launch date of all nine Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnerships. As the countdown to April 1 began, the Steering Group worked with the NWCE and NWIN to ensure that the North West Improvement and Efficiency Partnership is ‘fit for action’ on launch day. Over the coming weeks, you will be kept informed, through a comprehensive communications plan, of our plans to support councils across the region to implement the three-year strategy and to deliver improvements and efficiencies.

 

 

Currently, the former North West Centre of Excellence is operating from its base at Tameside Council offices while the former North West Improvement Network will continue to operate from its headquarters at the Wigan Investment Centre.

 

Over the coming months, the teams will be brought together under the guidance of a new chief executive, based in Wigan. This position has now been advertised widely and you will be informed when the new appointment is made.