West Cheshire Together
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Around 190 delegates from across the West Cheshire Together partnerships framework gathered at Winsford Lifestyle Centre to discuss the issue of the ‘Changing times’ which face us all. The whole event was ably hosted by Supt Jon Betts, Chair of the Ellesmere Port Area Partnership Board.
Following an opening address from Cllr Mike Jones, Chair of West Cheshire Together, our national speaker, John Tizard, Director for the Centre for Public Service Partnerships, described the national context for the new landscape for partnership working . In addition to the major spending cuts across the public sector, the emphasis is on localism with much less central performance management. John emphasised that change is inevitable, and that we must be prepared to face this future by seeing this as an opportunity to build partnership structures which can make best use of the resources and assets that we have available to us. Above all, this is an opportunity to develop local solutions which best meet local needs. To achieve this we must all be prepared to concede power and to share property and other assets in order to deliver services our communities want and need.
Delegates also heard from some local speakers who reflected on the challenges for West Cheshire. Steve Robinson, Chief Executive of Cheshire West and Chester Council, outlined plans to move towards local service delivery models across West Cheshire over the next 3-5 years. Starting with Ellesmere Port, work is underway to turn the Area Partnership Board into a commissioning body able to directly address deep seated problems such as teenage pregnancy. At the other end of the spectrum, David Horstead from the Cheshire and Warrington Enterprise Commission presented work to develop a Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) covering the Cheshire and Warrington area. This proposal has recently received Government approval and represents part of the new partnership landscape following the abolition of a range of regional agencies, including regional government. The new LEP will be private sector led, and will focus on supporting high business growth through levering in investment and securing the necessary infrastructure.
Helen Bellairs, the Chief Executive of NHS Western Cheshire and NHS Warrington talked about the impact of the forthcoming NHS reforms and the emerging local response. The enhanced role for both GPs in commissioning health care, and local authorities in taking the load on public health, will generate a new landscape for health care over the next couple of years. Delegates then heard about the issues and concerns for the voluntary and community sector (or ‘Civil Society’) from Ken Clemens of Age UK Cheshire. Ken challenged the sector to consider how best to align itself as a result of the changes – the sector should be ‘leading not pleading’. He suggested that the concept of ‘disruptive innovation’ might be usefully applied to our current deliberations, implying that new approaches should not be constrained by efforts to retain structures and processes we have become comfortable with.
Workshop sessions involving all delegates resulted in questions and issues being put to our panel of local experts. Questions were wide-ranging and included concerns about ensuring that our local partnership structures are fit to take on service commissioning roles; how we are going to empower all sections of our communities to engage, including the vulnerable; how the changes to the health service will impact on the delivery of front line services; and how we will develop a sustainable volunteer base, including the involvement of young people. Full details of the question and answer session will be reported on the West Cheshire Together website within the coming weeks .
Finally, our host for the day, Supt Jon Betts, summed up what the current challenges meant for him and encouraged delegates to recognise the opportunities to overcome the current constraints if we continue to work together. He concluded that attendance and enthusiasm evident at this event demonstrates that in West Cheshire we have sound footings for building partnerships for the future.
Pictured above are the speakers at the "Changing Times" LSP Network event. Left to right: David Horstead (Cheshire and Warrington Enterprise Commission), John Tizard (Centre for Public Service Partnerships), Ken Clemens (Age UK Cheshire), Helen Bellairs (NHS Western Cheshire), Supt Jon Betts (Ellesmere Port Area Partnership Board), Steve Robinson (Cheshire West and Chester Council) and Cllr Mike Jones (West Cheshire Together Chairman).
Ends.