County Durham Partnership
Who's Involved?
- The Board
- The Support Team
- The Project Team
The Lead Thematic Partnerships
The Sustainable Community Strategy
About Us
County Durham Partnership (CDP) is the Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) for the whole of County Durham.
The partnership was formed in 2007 following a merger between the County Durham Strategic Partnership and Local Area Agreement Board to create one partnership framework in the county.
Partners from the public, business, voluntary and community sectors come together as the County Durham Partnership to work together to ensure local needs and priorities are met. All partners want to improve the quality of life for people in County Durham.
We do not have our own budget but strive to influence where partners' resources are spent to ensure we achieve the aims, objectives and targets set out in the SCS and LAA.
We work to the County Durham Compact, a framework to promote and support partnership working between the voluntary and community sector and public sector organisations, ensuring productive partnerships based on mutual respect and trust.
To find out more, visit the County Durham Partnership website.
What is a LSP?
LSPs are seen as the best way to promote the social, economic and environmental wellbeing of communities.
LSPs aim to bring together key organisations in the county to work with local communities on issues that impact on their lives and where they live.
The Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) state the role of an LSP is to:
- be the partnership of partnerships in an area, providing the strategic co-ordination within the area and linking with other plans and bodies established at the national, regional and local level
- ensure a Sustainable Community Strategy (SCS) is produced that sets the vision and priorities for the area agreed by all parties, including local people and businesses, and based on solid evidence
- develop and drive the effective delivery of the Local Area Agreement (LAA)
- agree an action plan for achieving the SCS priorities, including the LAA targets
Our Aims
We aim to:
- inspire change
- lead to new and improved partnership working in County Durham
- improve public services
- take account of local variation
- promote good community engagement
- have a real impact on 'narrowing the gap'
- be efficient and effective
- empower partners to do things differently
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Who's Involved?
The County Durham Partnership Board
Susan Johnson, Chief Executive of County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service, chairs the County Durham Partnership Board. John Stoddart, Chief Constable of Durham Constabulary, is the vice-chair.
A representative from each of the organisations/sectors listed below sits on the board:
- All local authorities
- Durham Constabulary
- County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service
- County Durham Primary Care Trust
- All district Local Strategic Partnerships
- Chair of each lead thematic partnership
- Community and Voluntary Sector
- Connexions
- Government Office for the North East
- JobCentre Plus
- Learning and Skills Council
- North East Chamber of Commerce
- One Voice Network
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The Support Team
Donna Jefferson is the County Durham Partnership Project Manager and is seconded from Durham County Council’s Chief Executive’s Office.
In 2007, four full-time partnership support officers and an administrative assistant joined Donna on secondment from partner organisations to support the development and delivery of the SCS and LAA.
The support team are based at the Rivergreen Centre, Aykley Heads, Durham.
The Project Team
As well as the six full-time seconded staff, partners have identified staff in their own organisations with specialist skills and knowledge who will lead and carry out key pieces of work for the board, guide and direct activities and provide advice, as and when required.
Lead Thematic Partnerships
The County Durham Partnership provides a local partnership framework which other partnerships operate from.
The County Durham Partnership framework has five lead partnerships which each concentrate on specific areas of work. These are called the lead 'thematic partnerships'. Each of these thematic partnerships then has further partnerships and groups that feed into them.
Each thematic partnership provides advice and expertise on their specific area of work to the County Durham Partnership board. Each partnership also has responsibility for the achievement of certain SCS and LAA objectives and targets.
The chair of each thematic partnership is a member of the County Durham Partnership board.
The five lead thematic partnerships in County Durham are:
- The Children's Trust
- County Durham Community Safety Board
- County Durham Economic Partnership
- County Durham Health and Wellbeing Partnership
- County Durham Sustainability and Environment Partnership
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The Sustainable Community Strategy
The Government want us to create thriving, vibrant, sustainable communities which will improve everyone's quality of life. We try to do this by setting our long-term vision and ambitions for the county in our Sustainable Community Strategy (SCS).
Durham County Council must produce a SCS. They realise they can't do this alone. That's why they come together with their partners at the County Durham Partnership to develop and oversee the delivery of the SCS.
All partners work together to create a shared vision for County Durham and identify the challenges in the county and the issues that they want to tackle over the next 15 years to make County Durham an even better place to be.
The County Durham Partnership are currently consulting organisations and the public on the new 2008-2023 Sustainable Community Strategy for County Durham. There's still time to have your say.
Visit the County Durham Partnership website to keep up to date with progress on the development of the 2008-2023 SCS.
The Local Area Agreement
The 2008-2011 Local Area Agreement was developed by the County Durham Partnership and signed off by Hazel Blears MP, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, in June 2008.
The LAA is the three year delivery plan for the long-term ambitions in the Sustainable Community Strategy.
The 2008-2011 LAA is focused on the areas where we need to make the most impact during the next three years to make a real
difference in the County Durham.
We've looked at lots of evidence and information about the county, including areas we can improve our performance and the views of local people.
This has led to a wide range of issues being covered including things like: tackling anti-social behaviour, reducing teenage pregnancies, improving street cleanliness and reducing children's obesity.
The partnership wants to use the LAA to ensure that the county's resources are used where they are needed most, and focused on the things that matter most to local people.
Visit the County Durham Partnership website to view the full 2008-2011 LAA including the agreed targets and indicators and latest performance.
Contact Us
If you'd like to know more about the County Durham Partnership, the lead thematic partnerships, Sustainable Community Strategy or Local Area Agreement please visit our website, or contact:
County Durham Partnership Support Team
The Rivergreen Centre
Aykley Heads
Durham
DH1 5TS
Tel: 0191 3708795
Email: countydurhampartnership@durham.gov.uk
