FINANCIAL uncertainty means that local authorities can no longer even consider ‘government in isolation’, Cheshire West and Chester’s chief executive Steve Robinson told delegates at a Changing Times conference.
Speaking at the Winsford Lifestyle Centre, the chief executive was outlining the council’s vision for the partnership delivery of local services across West Cheshire over the next three to five years.
Local service delivery models, working with five area partnership boards, will involve the public, private and voluntary sectors with a strong emphasis on localism and much less central performance management.
Mr Robinson said: “We will be carrying out fundamental reviews of the role in the membership of area partnership boards, to enable them to develop and become joint commissioning boards, which will use local authority resources to compliment and support interventions from other partners.”
More than 200 delegates attended the conference which was staged by the West Cheshire Together Partnership and opened by Council Leader Mike Jones.
John Tizard, director for the Centre for Public Service Partnerships, said: “Change is inevitable and we must be prepared to face the future by seeing this as an opportunity to build partnership structures which can make the best use of resources and assets available to us. This is an opportunity to develop local solutions which best meet local needs. To achieve this we must all be prepared to concede power and to share property and other assets in order to deliver services our communities want and need.”
