In survey after survey the people of Bradford District have cried out for better education, for a cleaner District, and for honesty, openness and effectiveness in public life and local governance.
Wanting much else beside, the gap between public aspiration and the low level of public confidence is wide. This remains the case despite a significant flow of investment recently and the lowest level of unemployment for twenty years.
External drivers of change, are the formation of new regional and sub-regional structures, some in place and some heralded: the Regional Chamber and the Regional Development Agency, the Local Learning & Skills Council and the Small Business Service. The Regional Economic Strategy (RES) recognises that whilst much can be done through improved efficiencies, much more could be achieved through prioritisation of existing resource and through wealth and job creation - a view increasingly taken in Bradford District. Here lies the emphasis of the RES.
The Vision for the, District, 'The 2020 Vision", looking forward 20 years, is in draft. The Strategic Plan for the next five years will follow. Meanwhile Bradford Council has embarked on a process of modernisation which extends beyond the initial reorganisation at political level, to achieve effective direction and to free up resources and put them behind the priorities of the Strategic Plan.
The emphasis has changed, and with it the emphasis of Bradford's partnership must change towards ative delivery. Deliberation, representation and consultation are not enough, and have been too passive. We have got to get things done.
Effective delivery depends more than ever on agencies working together and on agencies working with people. Bradford Congress has achieved a trust and cooperation between agencies which was not present before. However to establish that trust it has left delivery to its member agencies and its secretariat has been run on a shoestring. It is time to move on and put the Partnership on a new footing which matches all the changes at regional and District level.
It is proposed that Bradford Congress be restructured, renamed and relaunched. It should concentrate on ensuring delivery as much as on consultation and representation, to enable all the agencies, collectively, to adopt and develop The 2020 Vision, and play a key part in the delivery of the Strategic Plan.
Three new objectives are proposed for the Bradford partnership - two are retained
1. To promote through partnership the well-being of the residents of Bradford District.
2. To ensure the District 'punches its weight' in the development of Yorkshire and the Humber.
3. To shape adopt and strive for the District's 2020 Vision.
4. To drive the delivery of the Strategic Plan.
5. To exploit opportunities for and to counter threats to the District's progress.
Congress was innovative in its time. Compared with many other partnerships it encompassed a broad spectrum of the District's main players. However it struggled with the increasing size of its Board, with ethnic and gender balance, and with geographic interest. The accommodations it employed were not always satisfactory. Its links to issue based partnerships, for example the City Centre Steering Group, wore informal.
To drive, a Plan in which the emphasis is on the creation of wealth and jobs, a new stricture is proposed:
The major Agencies with the private sector will hold leading roles. They will be backed by a wide range of interests within a formal three tier structure:
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Chairmen Group (Main Agencies and Private Sector) |
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Executive Group (Main Agencies and Private Sector) |
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Special Interest Groups (4+) |
Plan Priority Groups (7+) |
The main Agencies are:
The private sector organisations should each appoint two nominees to the Chairmen and Executive Groups.
Special Interest Groups (SIG)
Plan Priority Groups (PPG)
The SIGs are, advisory. Their role is to ensure that the partnership takes proper account of special concerns. The number of SIGs is flexible. Groups must be credible. It is expected they will come together round for example, ethnicity, gender, disability, and to represent the outlying areas of the District.
The PPGs, seven or more as necessary, drive the different strands of the Plan. The model is the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership. Membership is open to any relevant grouping however small. The Executive Group looks to the PPGs for the detailed delivery of their part of the Plan. The Groups advise and report accordingly.
It is recommended that provision is made for a priority group to address financial issues.
In these proposals there are departures from the current model. It will be noted that:
In formalising a third tier of Special Interest and Plan Priority Groups, these proposals extend the inclusivity of Bradford District's partnership. In separating out a Chairmen Group and an Executive Group, the committees have been cut to a workable, size suitable for driving the District's Strategic Plan. Ultimate responsibility within the partnership rests with the Chairmen. The full time executives are the force to drive the Plan forward.
Congress asked to accept the proposals set out in this note at their meeting on 2 February. Structures at regional level and within the District are changing all the time and some elements are not yet known. These proposals should not be regarded as set in stone, but as a framework for development.
CDF 20.1.00