Parson Cross Development Forum

Community groups, such as those listed below, will use the following preliminary list of actions as a catalyst for developing and committing to their own action plan to improve social-well being with emphasis in the priority areas and areas of immediate implementation. This is an estate based action plan that will to integrate into area wide and city plans.

Individuals will

• Recognise and make the most of their own assets responsibly.
• Be generous with their gifts of time and other resources for their neighbours and fellow citizens.
• Vote and participate in community and civic activities.
• Respect cultural differences and commonalties among all people.

Schools will

• Become neighbourhood centres for a range of services and activities.
• Instil a lifetime love of learning.
• Engage youth in a meaningful learning experience that links academics to the world of work.

Employers and Businesses will

• Adopt policies that promote a family-friendly workplace, including affordable access for workers and their families to childcare and ongoing skill development.
• Develop partnerships with schools and job training programs to provide necessary skills and experiences for individuals to advance in the workforce and to meet employer needs.
• Modernise their systems and workforce, investing in training and new equipment.
• Take responsibility for their impact on the environment by reducing emissions and waste
• Share their knowledge and experience with other businesses, providing mentors and job match opportunities, and helping to create a thriving business community.
• Invest locally, creating internal markets and benefiting from short links between purchasers and suppliers
• Become involved with the neighbourhood and community groups

Local Government will

• Encourage community participation by
  • Adopting local leadership policies,
  • Operating at a level which enables strategic decisions to be taken but which is close enough to individual neighbourhoods for actions to be determined at community level,
  • Being transparent, making it clear to the public who is responsible for decisions,
  • Implementing a scrutiny process that will help to clarify the reasons for decisions and the facts and analysis on which policies and actions are based,
  • Entering into agreements and compacts that ensure delivery of vital services, promote participation, and encourage volunteerism and active citizenship,
  • Exploring local rating schemes to fund local services,
  • Strengthening the role of the area panels, giving them the support and resources that will enable local initiatives and solutions;
• Deliver services efficiently by
  • Developing strategic partnerships between the public, private and voluntary sectors,
  • Bringing together at a local level the different parts of the public sector as well as the private, business, community and voluntary sectors so that different initiatives and services support each other and work together,
  • Implementing Best Value across all departments, challenging all assumptions about how and why service is delivered,
  • Consulting with local taxpayers, service users and the wider business community in the setting of new performance targets,
  • Inviting comparison with others' performance across a range of relevant indicators, taking into account the views of both service users and potential suppliers,
  • Embracing fair competition as a means of securing efficient and effective services,
  • Ensuring public/private partnerships are accountable to local people while maintain high standards of delivery and cost effectiveness,
  • Continuing to give officers delegated responsibility to take decisions on behalf of the local authority,  enabling them to respond promptly and effectively to neighbourhood demands,
  • Coordinating programmes across all service delivery sectors,
  • Prioritising service delivery to meet the needs identified by Parson Cross Community Development Forum, particularly the needs of older people,
  • Being responsive to changes in need and demand,
  • Enforcing the law, particularly in respect of environmental health, safe food and trading standards;
• Promote community spirit by
  • Deploying a transportation system that assures access to services and jobs,
  • Incorporating development controls, which encourage affordable housing, minimal transportation impact, and family-friendly, safe neighbourhoods, promoting quality in design and ensuring sustainable development.
  • Responding to the needs of the few as well as the many,
  • Supporting the development of citizenship and participation in democracy,
  • Promoting a diverse political agenda, encouraging selection and support for elected representatives from all sections of the community,
  • Taking positive steps to ensure under-represented groups and minorities have a voice,
  • Giving a strong voice to this community at the highest level of government, lobby those with the say and win benefits for our people,

The Police will

• Respond promptly to reports of crime and anti-social behaviour
• Adopt crime prevention policies that fit the neighbourhood
• Patrol the streets and be highly visible
• Prioritise active policing based on the fears and concerns identified by local people.
• Support neighbourhood watch and community wardens
• Take time to talk to young people and encourage them to talk back
• Implement strong anti-drug policies
• Implement low tolerance measures to combat street crime and repeat offenders
• Advise the community on personal safety, designing out crime and home security
• Secure resources to implement diversion schemes and victim support and redress.
• Protect witnesses and encourage participation in the courts and justice system
• Use the powers available to deal appropriately with anti-social behaviour, domestic violence and car crime.
• Protect our property and make our streets safe at night

The Faith Community will

• Promote volunteerism and advocacy on the social well-being agenda and areas of action.
• Coordinate individual ministries with areas of social well-being emphasis.
• Open its doors to the community, providing safe and comfortable rooms for activities and meetings.
• Respect other faiths and seek joint working to promote harmony and tolerance.

Family Service Providers will

• Create a basic support system for families, screening all children at birth for the level of support, which is needed by the family, and connecting the family with appropriate services to provide that support.
• Create a community-wide case management system that uses common intake and eligibility information to meet individual and family needs.
• Consolidate service provider infrastructure, where possible, to reduce costs and invest in front line staff.
• Engage with all providers in statutory, private and community sectors to develop effective area wide services that are available at the time and at the point of need.
• Develop and deploy a coordinated, geographically accessible healthy eating regime
• Develop programs that reduce unsafe behaviours, particularly among youth.
• Provide help and advice to our youth, particularly in respect of sexual health and substance abuse.
• Support the Work of the Children's Commissioner.

The media will

• Keep the community informed as to progress on social well-being goals and programs.
• Continue to promote social well-being outcomes and strategies to individuals and groups.
• Recognise employers with family-friendly workplaces.
• Support environmental policies, promoting recycling and responsible waste management
• Be affordable
• Be accessible and responsive to local issues

The Funding Community will

• Utilise information from the Parson Cross Community Development Forum to help shape their funding and development initiatives.
• Becomes an advocate, along with others, for social well-being issues.
• Increase the level of accessibility, particularly for social well-being causes, in the Parson Cross Area.

The Retail Community will

• Be responsible traders
• Invest in their properties and keep the forecourts clean and accessible
• Cooperate with the police and enforcement authorities to make shopping safe.
• Provide fresh, affordable and healthy food
• Encourage people to shop locally
• Prevent young people from purchasing alcohol and other restricted products
• Ensure your goods are safe, durable and of high quality.
• Provide help and advice to customers in safe use of products and tools
• Ensure your staff do not take up the parking spaces that customers need
• Be aware of access issues for people with disabilities and older customers
• Train your staff to be courteous, accurate and knowledgeable about your products and services
• Diversify, providing all the goods and services that people need.

The Voluntary and Community and Faith Sector

Parson Cross has a long history of voluntary activity, with a large, dynamic and diverse voluntary, community and faith sector, with a wide range of relationships with public agencies. In 1998, the Government published a national Compact or agreement with the voluntary and community sectors, recognising the value of the sectors and the importance of joint working. The Parson Cross Community Development Forum will negotiate a compact that sets out a number of principles and guidelines as a framework for good relations between the voluntary, community and faith sectors and the Local Strategic Partnership. This compact places the city wide compact into a local setting.

The Compact will be agreed by all parties and enables;

• Recognition of the vital role that voluntary, community and faith groups make and the importance of their continued independence.
• Shared values, funding, consultation, strategic co-operation and Black and other racial minority organisations outlining the commitments from all partners.

The Compact recognises that voluntary, community and faith groups play a crucial role in the development of society and to the social well-being, cultural, economic and political life of Parson cross.

The Compact recognises that by working in partnership with the voluntary, community and faith sectors, the partner agencies can play a positive role in supporting these groups.

The following two action points will ensure that the Compact is effective in guiding partnership working between partner agencies and the Voluntary Community and Faith Groups:

• Draw up an action plan and a timetable for implementation of the Compact including adoption of the Compact by individual organisations and adoption into the Standing Orders of the City Council
• Develop joint processes and procedures, which reflect the diversity of the voluntary and community sectors, for reviewing the implementation of the Compact annually.

The voluntary, community and faith sectors (Voluntary Community and Faith Groups), together with other agencies in the Strategic Partnership group agree on the following principle and values:

• Voluntary, community and faith groups, as independent, not-for-profit organisations, fulfil a role that is distinct from both the state and the market.
• Diversity of funding sources; partnership working and strategic planning can be one of the best guarantees of continued independence of the Voluntary, Community and Faith Groups.
• The importance of promoting equality of opportunity for all, regardless of race, faith, age, disability, culture, gender or sexual orientation.
• The need for special efforts to include groups who are excluded from decision-making structures (such as geographically remote, self help or black and racial minority groups).
• That all partners should strive for integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness and honesty.

There is value in working together towards these shared principles and there is a need for the Voluntary Community and Faith Groups to have support to play a full role in partnerships.

Successful partnership is based on equal rights and responsibilities, mutual respect, recognition of difference as well as similarity of purpose.

The independence of a Voluntary, Community and Faith Group includes its right, within the law, to campaign and challenge policies and to determine and manage its own affairs

Partner-agencies that provide funding to the Voluntary Community and Faith Groups sectors agree to:

• Implement a funding framework that invests in the capacity of the Voluntary Community and Faith Groups infrastructure.
• Promote funding policies that take account of the objectives of Voluntary Community and Faith Groups organisations and their need to operate efficiently and independently.
• Respect the sector's independence and its' right to campaign, irrespective of any existing funding relationship.
• Promote the allocation of resources against clear, consistent and transparent criteria.
• Ensure that information about new and existing sources of funding, eligibility, conditions of funding; grant size and application procedures are made widely available in accessible formats.
• Wherever possible, documentation for application forms, service level agreements, leases etc should be standardised at appropriate levels and user friendly.
• Ensure common and transparent arrangements for agreeing and evaluating objectives, performance indicators and associated targets.
• Ensure that funding conditions for the Voluntary Community and Faith Groups should be no less favourable than for other sectors.
• Ensure prompt payment of agreed funding.
• Consult the Voluntary Community and Faith Groups upon changes to the funding strategy during the planning stages.
• Give reasonable notice to individual organisations about changes in the funding position.
• Recognise that significant changes to the funding programme and strategic planning affect the viability of the Voluntary, Community, and Faith Groups.
• Fund the proportion of an organisations core cost allocated to the management of any particular project.
• Assist voluntary and community groups to access additional streams of funding.
• Recognise that many smaller community groups may not wish to have ongoing finding from public bodies, but may still need access to one-off, fast track grants.

The strategic partnership recognises the importance of the role that partner-agencies have as funders and providers of resources to the voluntary, community and faith sectors, some of which provide stability to the core resourcing of the sector. This, in turn, can enable groups to generate additional funding and resources. The Voluntary Community and Faith Groups value both financial and non-financial support provided by LPG partner-agencies.

In order to meet the responsibility as recipients of funding, the voluntary, community and faith sectors agree to:

• Pursue good practice in the use and administration of public funds.
• Ensure effective systems for the management and accountability of finances.
• Develop clear systems for planning and implementing work programmes and for evaluating activities against agreed objectives.
• Ensure equality of opportunity in both employment policy and in service provision
• Submit applications that include details of core costs based on a fair and proportionate allocation.
• Develop clear and transparent procedures for the use of public funds and inform funders when the organisation faces management or resource difficulties.

The partner agencies agree to:

• Use a variety of mechanisms to ensure the flow of information between partner agencies and the Voluntary Community and Faith Groups.
• Consult on all issues that may affect the Voluntary Community and Faith Groups.
• Ensure that consultation takes place at the developmental stage so that possible implications for the sector are identified.
• Enable the Voluntary Community and Faith Groups to raise concerns at an early stage and have a role in shaping the agenda as well as responding to the agenda of others.
• Provide the Voluntary Community and Faith Groups with regular and clear information about the functions of their departments, and the named contact people.
• Take account of the diverse needs and perspectives of the Voluntary Community and Faith Groups, including:
• Providing jargon-free, concise and well laid out information
• Where appropriate provide information in a variety of formats including translations, Braille and recorded tape
• Holding meetings in accessible buildings and at appropriate times
• Allow a reasonable time for the Voluntary Community and Faith Groups to respond to consultation.
• Ensure that all communications are standardised at appropriate levels and user-friendly.
• Analyse and evaluate the results of consultation exercises and provide feedback of the results and their outcomes to the Voluntary Community and Faith Groups.

Consultation needs resourcing within LPG partner agencies and the Voluntary Community and Faith Groups. The resource implications of consultations by Voluntary Community and Faith Groups and umbrella bodies should be recognised.

The voluntary, community and faith sectors agree to:

• Pursue good practice in achieving inclusive representation when responding to and feeding into consultation exercises.
• The diverse expertise and experience of the voluntary, community and faith sectors is a valued source of informed opinion. Effective consultation should enable the Voluntary Community and Faith Groups to bring their knowledge and expertise to bear on local policy development on behalf of the organisations and communities within which they work.
• Achieve inclusive representation by co-operating with each other through intermediary bodies and regional or sub-regional networks.
• Take account of the specific needs, interests and contributions of minority groups and the socially excluded.
• Ensure that feedback from consultation is disseminated widely within their particular organisation, network or community of interest.
• Identify the relevant networks and umbrella bodies for communication between the Voluntary Community and Faith Groups and LPG partner agencies.

Partner agencies and the voluntary, community and faith sectors are committed to:

• Seeking to co-operate on matters such as planning, policy development, service delivery and other issues relevant to all parties.
• Recognising that consultation needs resourcing within LPG partner agencies and the Voluntary Community and Faith Groups. The time, resource and capacity implications of partnership working should be recognised by all partner agencies and appropriate resources made available.
• Making use of appropriate training and development opportunities, recognising the role of trustees or senior staff.
• Ensuring that all parties are able to contribute as equal partners in partnership structures.
• Developing processes and procedures for reviewing the Compact on a regular basis.
• Developing procedures to deal with disputes between Voluntary Community and Faith Groups organisations and the LPG & partner agencies in relation to the implementation of the Compact.