Annex A – Extract from Poole’s LAA Short List Submission

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SHORT LIST OF OUTCOMES

POOLE’S LOCAL AREA AGREEMENT

Poole is a small (pop.137,900) and urban Unitary Council, part of a conurbation (pop. 496,000) on the edge of the South West region. Generally considered to enjoy a good quality of life, Poole has low unemployment, good health, low crime and good public services . But the town is facing stresses and the Council’s challenge is to sustain Poole’s strategic advantages, continue delivering good services and tackle a range of inequalities that exist.

The Council has expressed its response to the challenges and its ambitions for the town in a Corporate Striving for Excellence. Poole Partnership has developed its vision for the town after extensive public consultation. Both Striving for Excellence and Poole Partnership’s vision map onto the LAA framework very comfortably (see page 2). Poole Partnership are now using the structure and momentum of the LAA to move its Corporate Strategy to a higher plane.

Over recent decades Poole has enjoyed a strong and mixed economy. However, there are important structural issues for the council and its partners to work on – shortage of employment land, high proportion of low skilled jobs and poor transportation links. The attractive natural environment which helps make Poole such an attractive place to live does though, pose physical constraints on its ability to grow. So, attention is given to maximising the (re)use of urban land for housing and employment.

The good environment and general economic well-being make the area an attractive place for inward migration which is pushing up both house prices and the age profile. Providing affordable housing is important for Poole’s sustainability. We are very aware of the changing demographic make-up of the town and the need to plan for an ageing population and for the small but growing black and minority ethnic population.

A relatively low-skilled economy and high house prices also mean that some young people find it hard to stay in the area. Providing every young person with the best start in life is critical to Poole’s future and we are currently implementing a range of priority improvements in education as well as progressing a number of relevant cross-cutting themes such as town centre regeneration.

We recognise that not everyone in the town enjoys the same quality of life and that a range of inequalities exist e.g. priority outcomes in children’s services are targeted at two localities. Residents throughout Poole tell us that keeping neighbourhoods clean, green and safe is very important to them. A key theme of the LAA and Community Strategy is to make services – whether personal services or neighbourhood/ environmental services - more effective at locality level.

The Vision for Poole

The Vision for Poole comes from the people of Poole - it sets out what they believe will contribute to their future quality of life. It is the direct result of a period of consultation which involved local groups and individuals - many of whom had not been heard before.

The Vision for Poole focuses on Inclusion, Sustainable Development, Equality and Opportunity.

We all want Poole to be a place we are proud of.We want to maintain its beauty, shape its development and tackle its problems.

The Vision marked the start of Poole Partnership (the Local Strategic Partnership for Poole), with local people shaping the future of our town.

The diagram below aligns the aims of Poole Partnership with Local Area Agreements:

The Local Area Agreement for Poole

The LAA for Poole seeks to underpin the vision for Poole and the focus on inclusion, sustainability, equality and opportunity will be evident throughout the four themed blocks of the agreement. This focus will be clear through either the headline outcomes, key target areas or specific actions which will be developed more thoroughly over the next few weeks.

The short list currently comprises of 16 headline outcomes - four for each of the themed blocks:

CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE

  • Life chances for vulnerable children and young people are better in targeted areas of the town
  • Parents feel supported and are able to improve safety and well-being of children 0 – 19 in targeted areas
  • Health inequalities for children and young people are reduced in targeted areas
  • Poole has confident, employable young people who have a positive relationship with their community

HEALTHIER COMMUNITIES AND OLDER PEOPLE

  • Reduced health inequalities in Poole
  • Improved health through changing lifestyles
  • Independence and choice for older people
  • Health and well being of older people

SAFER AND STRONGER COMMUNITIES

  • A place where people feel safe and secure
  • High levels of personal safety at home, at leisure, whilst travelling and in the workplace
  • Strong and active community
  • A clean and sustainable environment

ENTERPRISE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

  • Improved competitiveness and diversity of the economy
  • Improved workforce and business productivity
  • Increased employment and economic activity
  • Improved accessibility of goods and people

Across the themed blocks, a total of 35 more specific key target areas or ‘sub outcomes’ have been identified after consideration of the work already in hand and the effectiveness of current strategies and plans being taken forward by the key partners in Poole.

This, together with [1]profile reports researched expressly for the LAA have enabled partners to begin to identify actions and activities that could help achieve the target areas and ultimately the outcomes for the community that Poole is aspiring towards.

The planned actions will be reflective of the extent and depth of the knowledge held about different groups of people within our community. Some actions will be implementing strategies and plans that would not otherwise have gone ahead without the LAA. Other actions will begin with wider research and consultation to enable effective strategies to be developed and for implementation in year two of the agreement.

Developing the Short List

The short lists, presented by themed block towards the end of this document, have been determined through a number of meetings and discussions between all members of the Task Groups, a challenge event by the I&DeA and input from GOSW representatives.

Key actions and indicators will continue to be developed using the process outlined by means of the flow charts at Annex A. The short lists currently include actions that overlap outcomes and key target areas. These, together potential stretch target areas will be become more defined as draft LAA is developed.

The development of the LAA is being steered by four Task Groups – one for each of the four themed blocks of the LAA. Their work program continues to follow the project plan submitted to GOSW at the end of July ’05.

Task Groups:

The role and responsibilities of the task groups are as previously advised:

  • Determining, in consultation with each other, their own organisations and the people of Poole, the desired outcomes for their themed LAA block
  • Identifying how these outcomes will be achieved and agreeing who will take responsibility for specific actions and activities
  • Identifying what barriers need to be overcome – both amongst themselves and with central government
  • Identifying funding streams and how they can be better used or pooled to deliver the desired outcomes

Each Task Group has nominated leads who negotiate their output with GOSW. The make up of the groups is not exclusive and will continue to be amended as we go through the process and identify skills and information gaps and thus ensure we develop the most appropriate LAA for Poole.

Poole Partnership:

Poole Partnership will be asked to approve the first draft of the LAA before it is submitted to GOSW and will receive updates and progress reports at each of its Steering Group Meetings during the course of this process.

The Poole Partnership website is kept up to date with progress and enables community participation throughout the whole process. Poole residents have been encouraged to take part in the process and visit the website for information in the September edition of Poole News which has been distributed to all households in Poole.

The Borough of Poole has nominated a Lead Coordinating officer and two further officers to provide support and guidance throughout the whole process.

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[1]Copies of all the profiles are attached as separate files to this submission