www.wiltshire.gov.uk
Community Leadership and Governance
The Community Leadership and Governance Workstream is one of the four core Workstreams within the Towards One Council transition planning programme - the others being Front Line Services, Business Management Programme and Resources.
The proposals for community governance, engagement and flexibility have been the cornerstone of our unitary bid and are seen as Wiltshire’s unique selling point. Our track record and beacon status in community planning has provided a solid foundation of work within our 20 community areas.
The Workstream is a package of inter-related legal, constitutional and governance issues and is broken down into 6 key project areas:
- Member recruitment, induction and elections
- Constitution and schemes of delegation
- Community Area Boards/Partnerships (inc SW governance arrangements)
- Wiltshire Assembly and other partnerships
- Delegation to Town and Parish Councils
- Boundary Review
More than any other this Workstream is highly visible and politically sensitive; its governance arrangements will need to feature a wide range of stakeholders and for them to be involved in shaping and buying into these new arrangements.
Communities of Consequence
What does this workstream want to achieve?
Over the past ten years in Wiltshire, we and our partners have built up a significant base of knowledge and experience in community planning. We are able to capitalise on this track record though the unparalleled opportunities offered by the creation of a new Council for Wiltshire. It is time to design a new, whole and coherent system of local governance, fit for the twenty-first century, whereby Wiltshire’s twenty community areas are of very real consequence.
What will the benefits be for the new council, staff and customers?
To ensure that Wiltshire’s communities are as resilient as possible, our intention is to empower our elected members to empower their local communities. We want to give some ‘teeth’ to local area boards who will work closely with community area partnerships and the wider community. There will be greater delegation to sort problems out on the ground whether through the town or parish council or the service provider working directly with the area board. When difficult choices have to be made, local people will be able to have an influence at the most appropriate stage and to see clearly who made that decision and why. Underpinning this whole system is the desire to build greater visibility, trust, satisfaction and trust in the Council.
What is/has been your greatest challenge?
Empowerment is a complex and challenging agenda and everybody seems to have a different take on what it actually means. Our challenge is to build the indisputable business case for our approach to empowerment in Wiltshire. We will focus on driving up performance, driving down costs and building and sustaining high levels of satisfaction and trust in the Council.
Also, in the summer the government is intending to publish a White Paper on Empowerment. There will be strong links to Local Area Agreements and key national indicators such as local people’s ability to influence decision-making. In April 2009, the Council’s ‘duty to involve’ will come into force. New powers will be available for community calls for action, the transfer of assets to communities, community charters, participatory budgeting etc. There will be a new round of inspection through the Comprehensive Area Assessment, which will look at the Council’s capacity to provide community leadership. We need to ensure that everybody understands the role of the empowerment agenda and that stakeholders have a chance to influence the future of our local governance. Our dialogue continues.
What is the vision for your area of work?
Wouldn’t it be great if, in five years’ time, people actually looked forward to meeting with the area board to really sort things out? Not just problems would be tackled, but people might even start taking a part in their local community, their Council, their Parliament, European politics etc. The big hope is that everywhere in Wiltshire would be a good place to live, work and visit whatever your background or age. In the long-term, we are talking about looking after people’s lives not just providing services.
For more information please e-mail
Contact Details
By Post
Community Leadership and Governance
Wiltshire County Council
County Hall
Bythesea Road
Trowbridge
Wiltshire
BA14 8JN
