Regional Initiatives
Regional Capacity Building Programme
The National Capacity Building Programme was established in April 2003 by the ODPM and LGA. Its aims were to enhance and develop Local Authorities’ confidence, leadership and skills as well as developing their capacity to learn, innovate and share knowledge and expertise.
In January 2004, the Yorkshire and Humber regional partnership, the LGIIP, secured £360,000 from the Programme to fund local government improvement activities in the region. Eight pilot activities were undertaken in a programme running from September 2004 to early 2005.
In April 2005 the ODPM and LGA confirmed that capacity building support would be available for a further 3 years. £57m has been allocated nationally, with between £5m and £7m for this region. The Partnership has developed a regional Capacity Building Strategy, entitled “Working Together to Improve”, which was launched by the ALA on 27th October and submitted to the ODPM for approval in January 2006.
The strategy is based on an approach of “helping local authorities solve their own problems”. It looks at developing new ways of working which add value at local level and are based on a network approach. Its three primary ways of working will be:
- key regional projects,
- sub regional and regional programmes and activities which share applied knowledge and information
- a Learning Exchange which shares information and good practice.
To access funding each sub-region is preparing an improvement strategy for 2005-8 which must demonstrate that its activities support regional priorities.
It aims to expand leadership and partnership working skills through undertaking practical work in particular service areas. The strategy identifies priority themes relating to service areas with a major theme to be tackled in each of the three years of the strategy.
- Achieving excellence in waste management across the region
- Delivering the children and young people’s agenda, in particular improving educational attainment
- Tackling health inequalities and promoting a positive public health agenda
- Tackling crime, reducing the fear of crime and creating safer communities
Overall priorities for Year 1 are
- Children and young people’s services
- Waste management
- Enhancing transformational leadership
The Department of Human Resources represents the Council on regional capacity building from an employment perspective. The strategy has many implications for Bradford Council’s human resource management. These feature in the Council’s Corporate Organisation and Workforce Development Plan and include:
- Peer Support Initiatives
- Support for Improvement Planning
- Leadership & Change Management
- Recruitment and Retention
- Middle Manager Development
- Making use of scarce skills
- Workforce Planning
The focus of the Regional Capacity Building Programme is also on testing out issues with practitioners and sharing experience. Bradford Council is represented through senior managers working in specific service areas, such as waste management. It thus ties in with Bradford’s core value of “Continuous Improvement and Innovation” as well as with all of its corporate priorities.
At sub-regional level a bid to the capacity Building Fund was submitted by the five West Yorkshire Local Authorities in March 2006.
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