Implementing a 'joint areas of focus' approach - Case study 8 Test Valley Sept 09
In top tier Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs), Local Area Agreements (LAAs) provide the ‘vehicle’ for delivering the Sustainable Community Strategy. At present, second tier LSPs adopt a variety of approaches to delivering their visions. Without a clear national model, many second tier LSPs find it difficult to translate their high level
community visions into more short-term plans for action.
For several years Test Valley Partnership has struggled to resolve the problem of how to get the whole partnership structure working together to address cross-cutting issues. A new Partnership Manager (James Moody) was appointed in June 2008 and given the task of developing a new approach to partnership working that addressed this issue. In under a year the manager has worked with the LSP to develop ‘Joint Areas of Focus’ or JAFs, a list of 14 objectives that the whole LSP structure is expected to deliver against.
While still in its early phases, the JAF model is already proving itself to be popular and effective. This case study suggests that the ‘JAF’ approach could be used by second tier LSPs to turn their community visions into action by ensuring partners work together towards common objectives. It could well be an approach other second tier LSPs want to explore.
