MEA Community Planning Partnership - 3rd Statement of Progress p7
Supporting our Themes
The review demonstrated that there are aspects of the current structures which are more effective than others.
Strategic Alliance
The recent statement of progress identified that the Strategic Alliance meetings had an average attendance rate of 37% of those invited.
This figure is cause for concern, implying as it does that there is consistent commitment by only around one third of partners.
The strategic connectivity which the Strategic Alliance can foster is vital to the effective delivery of the community plan, if the plan includes areas of focus for which key strategic partners are not present, then progress in effecting positive change will always be difficult.
Community planning is a collaborative endeavour.
It is therefore important that the outcomes and related actions provide the opportunity for significant collaboration. Ideally this collaboration serves both the operational needs of the partners and provides significant added value to the beneficiaries.
However, collaboration and partnership can also slow progress.
The greater the number of organisations involved, the more levels of approval that are required.
It is anticipated that the ongoing review of the community planning guide including reducing the number of meetings of the Strategic Alliance and the retention of a hybrid approach which will allow partners to avoid unnecessary travel will address this.
Community Panel
There is room for improvement in the role played by the Community Panel and how this connects to the wider community planning structure.
There is real potential for this group to bridge the perceived gap between communities and the community plan but currently this does not appear to be the case.
The community panel represents the community voice for Mid and East Antrim Borough, yet feedback implies that the community feels it does not have a voice or that its voice is not heard.
At this stage, the structures, membership and operation of the Community Plan are being reviewed, to ensure that it is able to provide the voice for the community.
Clarity around the expectations of members of the panel is required also.
The panel is an ideal conduit of information into and out of the community planning structures, but for this to be effective the information shared should be pertinent and should be directed towards where it can be actioned.
As part of this review the Strategic Alliance will consider reorganising how it engages with the community to reflect the new District Electoral Area structures within Council and the Community Clusters.
It is an opportune time to review the representativeness of the community panel across the borough.
Thematic Groups
Thematic working groups can be very effective in the initial planning and action planning stages, particularly when the members are decision makers within their own organisations.
Once the initial action plans are developed however, thematic working groups can slide into a pattern of meetings focused on updates, declining attendance and increasing frustration as progress slows.
The feedback from some of the thematic groups was that they struggled to find the added value of the community planning activity.
There was concern expressed by some that the scope of themes was so wide that by the time updates were presented there was no time left for development.
Concern was also expressed around changing personnel and membership leading to a loss of corporate knowledge about the community plan, its intentions and its actions.
It is anticipated that the review of the Community Plan and the consolidation of themes referenced earlier in this document will provide thematic working groups with renewed focus as they have the opportunity to examine and re-prioritise actions.
Thematic Chairs Group
This strategic connectivity between the themes is an important aspect of the successful implementation of Putting People First.
By definition, any structure which involves 25 public and private sector organisations will be unwieldly and challenging to navigate.
Information flows will be patchy, and it will be difficult.
The thematic chairs group has proved an excellent way to mitigate this.
As decision makers in their own organisations and experts in their themes, they will be instrumental in overcoming some of the challenges to delivery.
Operational Board and Performance Management Group
Neither the Operational Board nor the Performance Management Group have been implemented as envisaged when the plan was developed.
The roll out of community planning has not been detrimentally impacted by the absence of either group, in fact it is likely that had these groups been in place it would have diluted the attendance of partners even further.