The Audit Commission national study 'Working better together? Managing local strategic partnerships' reviews arrangements for performance, resource management, and governance.
The report identifies LSPs as evolving and maturing, local and national partners still need to recognise the key dynamics that support partnership working.
Too few LSPs take an area-wide approach to performance and resource management.
Some LSPs have well developed performance arrangements, but less developed resource management. And most LSPs have progress to make on their improvement journey if they are to deliver sustainable community strategy and LAA outcomes.
LSPs that have good, shared systems for performance management (with performance reporting, resource allocation, and risk management) will find it easier to show that they are on track to achieve agreed outcomes than those that do not. To read more CLICK HERE.

The  Local Government White Paper, Strong and Proposerous Communities set out the Government's intention to "work with national third sector umbrella bodies to establish a standard by which local third sector bodies should organise themselves to be effectively represented on LSPs".

This document has been drafted by a third sector stakeholder group, facilitated by Communities and Local Government and is sector owned and led. The document provides a set of guiding principles intended to assist the local third sector to organise itself and maximise the impact of its voice on LSPs.  The document entitled Principles of Representation for engaging the Third Sector can be downloaded by CLICKING HERE.

Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) looks at how well local services are working together to improve the quality of life for local people. It will make straightforward independent information available to people about their local services, helping them make informed choices and influence decisions.

It is about people and places. 
It will give people a snapshot of life in their local area each year.
It will help local services improve quality of life in their area.
It will help people understand if they are getting value for money from their local        services.
Combining the perspectives of the seven partner inspectorates, CAA will provide a joint assessment of outcomes for people in an area and a forward look at prospects for sustainable improvement.

For the first time, local public services will be held collectively to account for their impact on better outcomes. This means that CAA will look across councils, health bodies, police forces, fire and rescue services and others responsible for local public services, which are increasingly expected to work in partnership to tackle the challenges facing their communities.

CAA will focus on highlighting barriers to improvement and identifying success and innovation from which others can learn. In this way CAA will be:

a catalyst for better local outcomes, more responsive services and better value for money; a source of independent information and assurance for citizens, service users and taxpayers;
an independent evidence base for central government on progress against national priorities; and
a means of rationalising and coordinating inspection.
CAA will look most at what matters locally. It may cover issues like improving access to healthcare, increasing the availability of affordable housing, reducing the fear of crime, improving educational achievement, attracting investment or reducing the area's carbon footprint. The issues assessed in each area will reflect local priorities for improving quality of life and protecting people at most risk of disadvantage.

Other service or organisation specific assessments will continue. For example, health and police services will still be assessed by their respective inspectorates for those services that they are solely responsible for, but these will be developed alongside CAA to avoid any duplication. Schools, colleges, social housing and residential care homes will also continue to be inspected to check they meet required standards.

For Further Information about Comprehensive Area Assessments CLICK HERE