The head of a leading community and voluntary sector agency has
claimed that local strategic partnerships are "meaningless" and
that people will "continue to foul their own nest" unless they are
given direct responsibility to improve their neighbourhoods.
Alison West, chief executive officer of the Community Development
Foundation, a Home Office agency established to spread best
practice in strengthening communities, told LGAconference delegates
that people "do not want to be endlessly consulted".
"LSP consultation is meaningless. It is only when people are
involved themselves in the delivery of services that changes in
neighbourhoods are made," West said.
But she added that greater involvement of the voluntary and
community sector in delivering services would face problems,
largely because councils were reluctant to buy in services from the
sector.
"The thing preventing the alignment of the two mighty sectors of
the voluntary and public is the ignorance of the local government
officers that do the procurement," she said.