Transcript No Slide Title

DORSET RURAL
PATHFINDER
DSP Bridging Group
12 April 2006
Lord Haskins’ Review
• Poor accountability: confused policy and delivery
responsibilities, unclear outcomes and
accountabilities
• Too many players: confusion and overlap
• Lack of co-ordination: too many initiatives,
schemes and strategies
• Confused customers: complexity, delays, poor
information and customer support
• Not enough local responsiveness
Government Response
DEFRA RURAL STRATEGY - Three themes
• Economic and social regeneration
• Social justice for all
• Enhancing value of countryside
MODERNISING DEFRA’S DELIVERY
• Creation of integrated rural agency
• Simplification of funding streams
• Greater devolution of decision taking
• Local delivery pathfinders
The DEFRA Pathfinder ‘family’
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Dorset
Peak District RAZ
Shropshire
Hampshire
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Humber Rural
Lancashire
The Fens
West Durham
The 4 Pathfinder Challenges
• Simpler and quicker access to funding for rural
businesses and communities.
• More effective and simpler rural partnership
structures that take an integrated approach to policy
and delivery.
• Connecting rural delivery to community planning.
• Addressing the distinctive coastal and marine issues
that affect Dorset.
• Lead through theme groups of the DSP and the
Dorset Coast Forum
What will success look like?
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Shorter chain between policy and delivery
Simplification of funding, criteria and monitoring
Fund-holding agencies buy into delivery plan
Lower transaction costs - less leakage
Local flexibility to tackle local priorities
Improved outcomes:
– Local communities notice the difference
Challenge 1: Funding
• A simpler, possibly single, customer-focussed
delivery programme of advice and funding to rural
businesses and communities
• Joined-up funding to tackle rural isolation and provide
appropriate rural services.
• Avoiding the current problems
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confusion over the number/scope of funding streams
multiple points of contact within and outside of Dorset
over-complex forms and procedures,
the need to prepare unique monitoring reports
uncertainty.
Challenge 1: Funding
• A single regeneration vehicle, or company,
providing:
– a single face, or point of entry, to groups seeking
regeneration funding, whilst hiding the complexity.
– economies of scale in programme management
and administration,
– greater synergy through co-ordinated and cooperative action.
Challenge 1: Next steps
• Potential linkage with Baldric, and a need to assess
its suitability for evolving into a Dorset-wide delivery
vehicle.
• Business planning required to include consideration
of scope, structure, governance and accountability.
• Consideration of options, and consultation will be
crucial in achieving ‘buy-in’ from a wide partnership
base.
• Aim to complete the business planning process by
Summer 2006, and establish the delivery vehicle by
October 2006.
Dorset Strategic Partnership
Community Planning process
Dorset Regeneration Company
Board
(<20% public sector)
Dorset Regeneration Company
Staff
Chalk &
Cheese
LEADER+
Rural
Renaissanc
e Initiative
Invest to
Save Fund
(bid
submitted)
Chief Executive
+Skills: external funding, financial &
legal, office operation, human
resources.
Dorset Regeneration Company
Executive Group
Creative
Dorset
(DSP Culture
Group
proposal)
Dorset
Destination
Management
Organisation
Others?
Dorset Food
(successor to
Food Links)
Challenge 2: Simpler
partnerships
• Challenge being addressed through DSP
Environment Theme Group.
• It has proved difficult to identify easy ways to
rationalise partnerships - an evolutionary
approach is needed to this complex area.
Challenge 2: priorities
• Linkage to Bournemouth and Poole
• Joint delivery planning between partnerships and with
national agencies, and local partners. (Coastal
Corridor to provide an example).
• Connection to parish planning through the developing
‘AONB toolkit’, in conjunction with Challenge 3.
• Links to Natural England are a substantial
opportunity, and need to be explored on an extended
timescale as the new organisation forms.
Potential AONB Stretch?
• Developing the Dorset AONB Forum to meet the
demands that are expressed for a Dorset ‘Rural
Forum’.
• Developing a ‘fit for purpose’ rural partnership to
provide coverage for the agenda across the whole of
rural Dorset, and to face the anticipated priorities of
Natural England.
• These issues require further exploration.
Challenge 3: Connecting to
Community Planning
• Community Capacity Building is a Strategic Rural
Delivery Priority for Dorset in addition to being a
cross-cutting outcome within Dorset’s Local Area
Agreement (LAA).
• The Challenge has been taken forward through the
Active Communities Theme group.
Challenge 3: Outcomes
• LAA Delivery Plan priority to improve the town,
neighbourhood and parish planning process including
support for the implementation of Parish Plans.
• Rural Pathfinder outcomes sought;
– Increased capacity and opportunities for local
communities to influence and participate in service
delivery in rural Dorset
– Effective connection of the town/parish level of
community planning to delivery mechanisms
– Realistic and achievable community expectations
of rural delivery.
Priorities for improvement
• Increased Community Capacity Building
resource to provide on the ground support
• Joined up information and funding advice
• Training for community leaders and groups
• Learning from shared experiences celebrating successes
• Increased awareness of Community Planning
- across partners, members, officers
For working up with practitioners, parishes
and wider stakeholders
Challenge 4: Coastal Issues
• Unique contribution within the Pathfinder to DEFRA
coastal thinking (new Marine Bill, and National
Strategy for Coastal Zone Management).
• Jim Knight MP has agreed to give the opening
address at the Dorset Coast Forum meeting to be
held on December 9th.
• A team from the Dorset Coast Forum met officers
from DEFRA, and GOSW on 30th November to agree
a proposed work programme.
Challenge 4: Coastal Issues
• Agreement reached on programme of scenario
building and evaluation of possible future coastal
zone developments
• Agreement reached on development of prototype
local coastal and marine data management system to
complement DEFRA Marine Information Data
Partnership.
• Support given to the development of proposals for a
fully instrumented coast providing automatic coastal
environment data collection.