Surrey Learning Disability Partnership Board A brief history of Partnership Boards
When the Valuing People White Paper was published in 2001, it established local Learning Disability Partnership Boards as part of its delivery mechanism. Partnership Boards were set up to bring together all the relevant local agencies and stakeholders, and to give a voice to people with learning disabilities and their family carers. Since 2001, some Partnership Boards have become effective agents for change, robustly monitoring local progress with a central role in local strategic planning and commissioning, and delegated financial responsibility.
The future for Partnership Boards The Department of Health believes that the effectiveness of Boards has not been consistent across the country and that certain groups have not been fully engaged with, or represented on, Partnership Boards. This is particularly the case for people with learning disabilities and family carers from black and minority ethnic communities and people with complex needs.
Valuing People Now (2009) places even greater emphasis on local Partnership Boards to ensure the effective delivery of Valuing People Now. Partnership Boards are now part of a new governance structure (see fig. 1 below) that allows for the reporting of local data to the new Regional Learning Disability Programme Boards. This will help the National Learning Disability Programme Board, co-chair by the Minister for Care Services, to have a national overview of progress (see also key actions for partnership boards for 2009 -12) and decide how to provide additional support where needed.
The Department of Health has published a guide (downloadable from this website or the D of H site) setting out best practice in that new context, and is a direct response to the requests for further guidance from Partnership Boards as part of the Valuing People Now consultation in 2008. It gives best practice examples from around the country and is based on the evidence that the most effective Partnership Boards are those with strong links to other local boards and work programmes; where there is delegated or shared financial and commissioning responsibility; and where there is meaningful representation of people with learning disabilities and family carers from all local communities.
The Surrey Learning Disability Partnership Board, now and looking forward The County Council takes a lead role in facilitating the Surrey partnership board. Mary Hendrick is the adult social care service officer responsible for developing partnership working. There are plans to strengthen the work of the Surrey Partnership Board which currently has diverse membership including representation from SCA.
Work is currently in hand to complete an annual report and questionnaire that will be signed off by the Surrey partnership board and submitted to the regional partnership board in April, 2010. The County council and Surrey PCT will use this to check progress on meeting standards. Flowing from this report will be the work plan and priorities for the Surrey Partnership Board in 2010/11. SCA will post this on its website as soon as it is available along with regular updates about Surrey partnership board monthly meetings. These meetings are not open to the public, but are attended by the various agencies and groups that are stakeholder members. There are also four Valuing People groups that are a local focus for activity in the County covering: NW Surrey; NE Surrey; SW Surrey; and SE Surrey. Three of these groups meet monthly and one six weekly. For more information go to: http://www.surreypb.org.uk/index.php?page=/index this website provides wide ranging information about up-coming related events, links to relevant groups, the board’s action plan and the progress being made.
Partnership Board Governance Framework Key actions for Partnership Boards 2009–12 set out in Valuing People Now Partnership Boards need to: • develop their own equality schemes to show how they are implementing and monitoring equalities legislation; • review their person centred planning strategies in light of the forthcoming person centred planning guidance; • work with key agencies to ensure that personalisation strategies include person centred planning approaches. Personalisation strategies need to include support planning and carers’ impact assessments for all adults with complex needs or where changes are planned in their support and services; • ensure that people with learning disabilities and their family carers can act as partners in improving healthcare for people with learning disabilities; • ensure that local Joint Strategic needs assessments (JSNAs) identify the housing needs of people with learning disabilities to inform strategic planning, including identifying the number of people with learning disabilities living with family carers over 70 and those with complex needs; • ensure that, by 2012, all young people with statements of special educational needs who have learning disabilities have person centred reviews from the ages of 14 to 19, which actively involve the young person and their family; • be included in the local multi-agency employment strategy, linked to Public Service Agreement 16; • make sure that access to the post-16 education and training sector is fully included in the local strategy for responsibilities returning to local authoritisupport local service commissioners and providers to develop systems and processes which will enable people with learning disabilities to build and sustain relationships;
• ensure that all relevant bodies (PCTs, local authorities etc) are using accessible information when supporting parents with a learning disability and that their services are accessible, as required by disability discrimination legislation;
• develop an information strategy to publicise the availability of advocacy regionally and locally and to share best practice;
• engage with local transport plans to ensure the effective inclusion of people with learning disabilities;
• engage with local Crime and Disorder reduction Partnerships and to identify a hate crime lead and a link person responsible for working with Local Safeguarding Children Boards;
• take their place at the centre of local delivery of the key objectives. This will mean building close links between Partnership Boards and the JSNA process, Local Strategic Partnerships and the Local Area Agreement, as well as local Overview and Scrutiny Committees; and
• review their Board membership, processes of engagement and working practices with a view to ensuring that the Boardis properly constituted and led; consulted by statutory agencies; operating in line with good practice advice; and ensuring sufficient resources for the operation of the Board. Directors of Adult Social Services and PCT Chief Executives have important leadership roles at local level.
