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The Sutton Partnership - How it's organised
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| Author: John Craig-Sharples |
The Sutton Partnership is organised as a network of related partnerships. At its centre is the Sutton Partnership Board which comprises the key players in the borough from the public, private and voluntary and community sectors. Its membership is a mix of people appointed directly to the board and representatives who are elected from the six Themed Partnerships.
The six Themed Partnerships are:
• Economic Enterprise and Housing Partnership
• Community Engagement Partnership
• Sutton Children & Young People Partnership
• Safer Sutton Partnership Board
• Sutton Adults Partnership
• Sustainable Living Partnership
It is the combined activities of these partnerships and the other groups that support them, that collectively comprise the Sutton Partnership. This gives a sense not just of the complexity and breadth of the work that the Sutton Partnership delivers, but also of the huge potential that all these organisations working together brings to implementing this strategy.
Should a situation arise where there is a dispute between partners, the partner(s) with the dispute will set it out in writing and submit it to the chair and vice-chairs of the Sutton Partnership Board. They will consider the matter, taking additional evidence from the concerned parties, as necessary, before reaching a decision. The dispute resolution process will be completed within an eight week period.
The six Themed Partnerships are tasked with leading on one or more of the eight priorities which the partnership has identified through consultation with the community. These eight priorities are the work programmes through which the partnership will deliver its vision of a fairer, safer and greener sustainable suburb.
The Economic & Housing Renewal Themed Partnership is responsible for our priorities of encouraging enterprise and employment; and improving housing and managing growth.
The Community Engagement Themed Partnership is responsible for our priority of developing active and inclusive communities.
The Children & Young People Themed Partnershipis responsible for our priority of investing in children and young people.
The Safer Sutton Partnershipis responsible for our priority of creating safer communities.
The Sutton Adults Themed Partnershipis responsible for our priorities of improving health and well-being and valuing older people.
The Sustainable Living Themed Partnershipis responsible for our priority of creating a greener, cleaner borough.
Each of these eight priorities is explained in more detail in the Sutton Strategy.
Monitoring and Evaluation
The Sutton Partnership is responsible for the overall co-ordination of the strategy, and progress against the Local Area Agreement is performance managed using the Sutton Tracker System. Tracker provides a single area-based performance management system. The approach emphasises the importance of taking remedial action where targets are not on-track and enables the partnership to focus on priority areas, so it can use real time data to address under-performance.
Within one week of the end of each quarter, senior managers are responsible for ensuring that data and progress reports against the targets in the Local Area Agreement have been entered. A traffic lights system is used to indicate whether progress and confidence is red, amber or green.
Each of the Themed Partnerships discusses its targets within three weeks of the end of the preceding quarter. Those targets giving the most cause for concern are discussed by the Sutton Partnership Board. Progress is reported to the council’s executive and to the Government Office London twice a year.
Finance and Resources
The work of the Sutton Partnership is resourced in part through funding made available by central government in the form of Area Based Grant. This is a general grant allocated directly to local authorities as additional revenue funding to areas. It is intended to support the delivery of local, regional and national priorities in the local area.
The majority of the funding which underpins the partnership’s activities is managed by the individual partner organisations. Through the process of agreeing this strategy and setting the Local Area Agreement, this funding is then used to deliver against the shared priorities of the partnership. Partner organisations are responsible for their own financial planning and expenditure and are responsible for ensuring appropriate allocation of resources to deliver on the targets agreed in this Strategy.
Financial planning is updated each year taking account of relevant factors, such as service developments, grant prospects, expenditure forecasts and capital receipts.
The selection of the priorities and targets set in this strategy is informed by the consideration of risks and opportunities by partner organisations.
Individual organisations have their own risk management arrangements in place and these are used in determining the partnership commitments into which they enter.
Partners consider the resources available and analyse trends in population growth, health inequalities, community safety, housing, employment and environmental sustainability.
On a quarterly basis during the year the Sutton Tracker System requires all partner organisations with responsibility for Local Area Agreement targets to evaluate the risks associated with delivery.
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