What is Sheffield First Partnership?
Sheffield First Partnership is the Local Strategic Partnership for Sheffield. Every area has one, and its purpose is to bring a wide range of organisations together to work towards a shared, long-term vision for the city. The partnership coordinates the work of a range of different public, private and voluntary agencies and initiatives, reducing duplication and maximising impact by working together, and ensuring that the interests of every sector in Sheffield is represented fairly. Our vision is that:
‘Sheffield will be a successful, distinctive city of European significance at the heart of a strong city region, with opportunities for all.’
This is the overarching strategy for the city, covering the social, environmental and economic well-being of Sheffield. The current Sheffield City Strategy, which runs from 2005-2010 was published in October 2005 and revised in 2007. The City Strategy is based around 5 big ambitions for the city:
- Sheffield to have an economy that matches the best in Europe.
- Sheffield to establish excellence in its public transport system.
- Every neighbourhood to be a successful neighbourhood.
- Everyone to be able to fulfil their potential through learning and enterprise.
- Sheffield to be an attractive and sustainable, low-carbon city.
A new 10 year City Strategy entitled 'Picture This: Sheffield 2010' is currently under development and will be published as soon as possible.
Sheffield First Partnership is not a direct delivery organisation. Actual delivery on the ground is done by partners, who agree collectively what each will do to tackle the issues identified in the City Strategy. Sheffield First Partnership is effectively the glue that brings it all together and coordinates, facilitates and challenges others to deliver. Coordinating actions to address the needs of the city is vital. Specifically Sheffield First Partnership is responsible for:
- Setting and ensuring delivery of the City Strategy.
- Overseeing certain types of funding resources and making sure they are rolled out in the most effective manner to ensure that they have the maximum positive impact on delivering the future vision for the city.
We are accountable in a number of ways:
- Central Government assess our overall performance annually and review certain aspects of our performance more frequently.
- Members of the Council sit on the Sheffield First Partnership Board.
- Local elected councillors are involved in all of our work and many of our key decisions, policies, and strategies are validated by Sheffield City Council. For example the City Strategy which the partnership created was formally adopted by the Council as its over-arching strategy.
- Like many public bodies, the Partnership is subject to scrutiny through Sheffield City Council.
- All our public sector partners are subject to assessment and are accountable to the public in different ways.
- We issue reports on progress at least annually and have in place a communications strategy which ensures reporting back to the community and communicating through key partners.
The Sheffield First Partnership (SFP) Board is made up of a wide range of individuals each with different roles in the delivery of the City Strategy. Decisions taken by the Partnership are done so on the basis of consensus. Achieving collective agreement to the way forward is an important aspect of our approach.
A small team supports the SFP Board. The work is achieved through the collective contributions from all the partners. The team provides leadership and challenge, making sure that all partners are pulling in the right direction to ensure successful delivery of the city vision.
The operational costs of Sheffield First Partnership are funded by a range of contributions from partners – money from central government, sub-regional and local public sector partners (including the Council, local health organisations, universities and the Police).
It is very important that people know what is happening to move Sheffield forward, to enable them to work with us, and to engender a sense of continued and growing civic pride in the city. We are always keen to hear the views of local people and we work with partners to make sure our plans and actions reflect the views of local people. One important way to get involved is to make contact with Voluntary Action Sheffield, the organisation which supports involvement of the community and voluntary sector in the work of Sheffield First Partnership. You can also help us achieve our vision through your own actions – for example looking after your own health, using public transport, recycling your household waste or taking advantage of educational or cultural opportunities.