Wirral Council has produced a document called ‘Life is Local’ Partnership Working with the Social Sector Wirral’s Blueprint. This document outlines the way in which they want to work with our Sector in the future. Comments can be sent directly to .
The purpose of the social sector blueprint is to formalise the working relationship between the Council and the social sector developing it in to an active partnership. There is an existing long standing relationship as demonstrated through the grants programmes and services commissioned from the social sector.
The relationships differ across the Council departments. Some of these relationships have been very effective other less so with the social sector viewing the relationship as adversarial rather than one of true partnership working. The blueprint seeks to develop a corporate approach to working with the sector, which could be adopted by the wider public sector in the future.
The Council is undergoing substantial changes in the way it designs and delivers services this will inevitably have an impact on the social sector. To design services that meet needs with an ever decreasing budget will makes it important to have an equitable partnership with the social sector. A Compact has been in place between the sectors but the adherence and understanding of the principles is limited, and there are no sanctions if it is not adhered to by the Council. This makes the development of the blueprint timely as a way to develop a platform for a cooperative approach, or in other words co-production and imbed partnership working in the strongest sense of the term between the sectors.
The refreshed Corporate Plan 2015-2016 places communities and engagement at its heart. The social sector forms an important part of communities from small community, residents and tenants associations to larger charities and social enterprises. Therefore the engagement of the social sector is critical to the successful delivery of the Corporate Plan.
The blueprint is wider than commissioning and acknowledges that individuals and groups can pro-actively contribute to improving their lives and neighbourhoods. The social sector blueprint is linked to Wirral Council’s Neighbourhood Working programme across the four Parliamentary Constituencies.
