Archived decisions

Contact: Rosalind Rutt, ext 6745 email: [email protected]

1. Summary

1.1 This report details the latest progress with the Hampshire Rural Pathfinder programme and seeks approval for the approach to the programme and for further support.

2. Background

2.1 The Government has chosen eight Rural Pathfinders across England. Hampshire has been selected as the Pathfinder area for the South East region, led by Hampshire County Council as the accountable body.

2.2 When she announced the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' (DEFRA's) Rural Strategy on 21 July 2004, the Secretary of State said that:

"Local authorities have a vital role as community leaders in joining up and delivering quality services. I therefore intend to look at innovative mechanisms for devolving delivery even closer to rural communities ... we will set up a pathfinder in each region."

2.3 The Rural Pathfinders reflect the spirit of the Devolved Decision Making Review by seeking to tackle problems affecting local delivery, including prioritisation of resources, and allowing the testing of new and innovative ways of rural delivery. The Pathfinder presents an opportunity to consider ways of improving the whole approach to rural and natural resources protection policy through better prioritisation and a clear focus on outcomes. The Government is committed to mainstreaming the lessons learnt from the pathfinder projects, including across national and regional Government, within sub-regional partnerships and across all local authorities. There are thus real opportunities for the devolution of rural delivery locally, including to local authorities.

2.4 The purpose of the Rural Pathfinder in Hampshire is to test how to:

(i) make delivery of rural services more effective (that is, that delivery activities and outcomes match agreed policies and resources match need);

(ii) make the delivery of rural services more efficient (that is, that proportionately more resources are available to delivery);

(iii) ensure that delivery of rural services is more customer-focused (that is, the needs of customers are met rather than those of the delivery organisations); and

(iv) achieve greater local accountability for public sector investment in Hampshire.

3. Progress Report on the Rural Pathfinder in Hampshire

3.1 The Minister, Alun Michael, launched the Prospectus for the Rural Delivery Pathfinders (Appendix 3) on 14 March. Hampshire County Council was also invited to speak at DEFRA national conference and the Local Government Association Rural Commission, both attended by the Minister.

3.2 DEFRA is supporting the Pathfinders by:

(i) undertaking an economic analysis of the funding streams in each Pathfinder area. The initial focus is to look at DEFRA funding and resources, with possible further work to look at wider public sector investment;

(ii) providing statistical profile for each Pathfinder area, based on the new Rural definition to support the local evidence base;

(iii) coordinating and disseminate learning between the Regional Pathfinders and collating common issues for discussion/ resolution with other Government Departments;

(iv) commissioning an independent evaluation of the Pathfinder programme; and

(v) coordinating regular meetings to share learning and progress between the pathfinders.

3.3 The Government Office for the South East (GOSE) is acting as a 'critical friend' for the Hampshire programme and is closely involved with the Steering Group. GOSE is making the links with the evolving Regional Rural Delivery Framework and will help take forward with Government any relevant issues emerging through the Pathfinder.

3.4 Across the County Council the intention is that the Pathfinder should act as a catalyst to encourage more collaborative working with Government and other agencies and to improve service delivery for the customer. A corporate officer group has been established with input from a wide range of departments. This group has been meeting regularly to feed into the programme. Some departments are developing potential projects - either leading or working with partners. Examples include:

(i) public sector procurement of local food - led by Hampshire Fare, supported by the Economic Development Unit - to encourage all public sector organisations in Hampshire to review their procurement of local food to include more locally sourced produce;

(ii) local countryside and green space network - led by the Countryside Service and Winchester City Council - to create a partnership to ensure that local countryside and green space meet the needs of local people and visitors, with a pilot in the South Hampshire sub-region; and

(iii) an integrated delivery service for land management advice - led by the Environment Department - piloting alternative models such as co-location of advisors or a virtual one-stop shop in protected areas, including North Wessex Downs, South Downs and the New Forest.

3.5 The early stage of the Hampshire Pathfinder has focused on raising awareness on what the Pathfinder is seeking to achieve with a wide range of stakeholders; seeking their involvement and commitment in developing the programme. Some of the activities undertaken through this approach are set out below.

3.6 A Steering Group involving all levels of Government and agencies has been established to scope, steer and empower the Rural Pathfinder programme for the South East (Appendix 1). The group is currently meeting monthly to formulate and agree the approach, analyse the stakeholder input and help develop the programme.

3.7 Both the consumers of and those delivering rural services came together for the first stakeholder workshop on 7 January 2005 (Appendix 2). Over 45 people attended and gave support to the overall approach and a commitment to work collaboratively on the Pathfinder programme. Work undertaken by the stakeholders included scoping, identification of inefficiencies, blockages, gaps and possible solutions. The second workshop began to prioritise the issues identified in the first workshop to feed into the first draft programme for the Pathfinder.

3.8 A Business Plan has been submitted to DEFRA for its comments. Activities as part of this plan (other than those outlined above) are underway or will be commenced soon, including:

(i) seeking the support of partners more formally through a Statement of Intent, followed by partnership agreements;

(ii) analysing data from DEFRA and identifying information needs;

(iii) obtaining and analysing local information on consumer responses to public services, IPSAs Community Strategies, etc;

(iv) developing a web site and circulating an electronic newsletter;

(v) considering how to engage effectively with district councils, urban interests, the voluntary and community sector and other County Council Members; and

(vi) setting up procedures for evaluation, monitoring and control of the Pathfinder.

3.9 An overall Pathfinder Programme will be shaped, which comprises individual projects or clusters of related projects under key themes which have been identified through stakeholder workshops and suggestions from individual rural service delivery bodies. Projects will be considered by the Steering Group in the light of agreed evaluation criteria, which include consistency with Community Strategies and LPSA2 targets. Projects will be led by individual organisations or partnerships and involve a range of partners, including Hampshire County Council. Some projects will be straightforward and quick to implement; others may involve changes to primary legislation and may take several years to come into effect. Initial project proposals are already being shaped by partners, and others will be developed as the programme proceeds.

3.10 The pilot is being supported by funding from DEFRA (£100,000 to the end of 2006/07 financial year), which is being used to support the core team as agreed by the Pathfinder parties. The Environment Department has identified an initial sum of £30,000 from its management support budget to support the programme in 2005/06.

3.11 There is very little funding available for projects, and further resources are needed to provide seed corn funding to initiate projects and attract further resources. Support will be sought for specific projects by realigning existing funding streams, or pooling resources by different service deliverers. As projects develop, it is hoped to lever further funding from partner organisations once they recognise the benefits for their particular service from the programme.

3.12 To achieve the aspirations of the Rural Pathfinder programme, the management team will need to:

(i) negotiate and develop the programme with Directors across central Government departments and agencies;

(ii) work on a day-to-day basis with Directors of regional offices, including, amongst others, the Regional Development Agency, Environment Agency, the new `Natural England' agency and GOSE;

(iii) engage the involvement and collaboration by all levels of local government within Hampshire and across the region;

(iv) act as a catalyst to stimulate and support a vibrant programme of projects which will meet the aspirations of the Rural Pathfinder; and

(v) drive the programme to achieve the desired outcomes.

3.13 Programme management is through an established small core team. Programme leadership comes from the partnership of Iain Lynch from GOSE and Merrick Denton-Thompson from the County Council (half-time). Rosalind Rutt has been seconded as Programme Manager. Two temporary part-time staff provide support for programme delivery and administration. This project is breaking new ground within a very tight timetable. There is a need to boost the management team if full advantage is to be taken of the considerable opportunities offered by the programme.

4. Conclusions

4.1 The aspirations of the Rural Pathfinder programme are for:

(i) public services focused on outcomes;

(ii) consortia and a collaborative approach to delivery; and

(iii) public services delivered and accountable locally, and a focus on empowerment rather than intervention.

4.2 If the programme is successful, rural communities (including the business and faming communities) will experience more joined-up and flexible services at the local level which meet local needs. There is a huge opportunity for the County Council as a whole and for the rest of local Government to assist in delivering such services, with the devolution of national and regional public programmes to the local level and the integration of service delivery. Corporate support for the Rural Pathfinder for the South East of England is critical to ensure that the correct resources are available to maximise the potential benefits from the programme.

Recommendations

1. That the approach taken to managing the Rural Pathfinder programme for the South East of England be endorsed.

2. That a progress report on the Rural Pathfinder be submitted in September 2005.

3. That consideration be given to allocating additional corporate resources to the Rural Pathfinder over the lifetime of the programme.

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APPENDIX 1

RURAL PATHFINDER

SOUTH EAST REGION

STEERING GROUP

February 2005

APPENDIX 2

HAMPSHIRE RURAL PATHFINDER STAKEHOLDER ORGANISATIONS

APPENDIX 3

RURAL DELIVERY PATHFINDERS: PROSPECTUS

"Local authorities have a vital role as community leaders in joining up and delivering quality services. I therefore intend to look at innovative mechanisms for devolving delivery even closer to rural communities. Over the course of this year we will set up a pathfinder in each region to explore more joined-up and flexible approaches at local level in rural areas, including to join up services and funding at the point of delivery." (The Rt Hon Margaret Beckett, announcing the Rural Strategy on 21 July 2004)

Purpose of this prospectus

1. Rural Strategy 2004 sets out the Government's key priorities for rural policy and a new devolved approach to rural policy and delivery. It recognises the key role of local authorities in joining up, and delivering, quality services at the local level. It commits the Government to looking at innovative mechanisms for devolving delivery as close as possible to rural communities, as well as mainstreaming and building on the best of what has been learnt from Countryside Agency demonstration programmes.

2. Establishment of the rural pathfinders reflects the Government's commitment to devolve decision-making and resources to the English regions and to local decision-makers. This is especially pertinent in respect of rural policy given the wide range of problems and challenges, often very localised, facing rural England. It is impossible for `one size to fit all'. The pathfinders are about testing how best to give greater empowerment to rural communities, within the framework of national policy and available taxpayers' resources, to set their own priorities, more readily implement innovative, `joined-up', solutions to problems, and generally seek to target resources more effectively where need is the greatest.

3. Overall, DEFRA is seeking, with partners, to identify:

· how to make delivery more effective (that is, that delivery activities and outcomes match agreed policies and resources match need);

· how to make delivery more efficient (that is, that proportionately more resources are available to delivery);

· how to ensure that delivery is customer-focused (that is, the needs of customers are met rather than those of the delivery organisations); and

· how to achieve greater local accountability for public investment in rural areas.

4. This prospectus has been agreed between DEFRA and the local authorities, and local partnerships, involved in the eight pathfinders announced pursuant to Rural Strategy 2004 to take forward the Secretary of State`s commitment noted above. Other key organisations - such as Regional Development Agencies, Rural Community Councils and other voluntary and community sector organisations, town and parish councils, and the elements of the new Integrated Agency (the Countryside Agency, English Nature, the Rural Development Service) - have also been involved in its preparation. All relevant parties will play a full part in keeping the prospectus under review as action progresses.

5. The prospectus sets out an agreed broad framework of aims and putative outcomes intended to guide the process of setting-up the pathfinders and, importantly, evaluating what they achieve. It is very much a guide. It is not intended to be prescriptive, nor to serve as a constraint upon actions planned or taken locally to drive forward relevant objectives. But all the parties to it regard it as providing a useful and appropriate framework for the work now about to begin in earnest to get the pathfinders going and to embed the new approach to rural policy that they represent.

Background

6. In October 2004, DEFRA announced seven of its eight local delivery pathfinder areas. (The eighth, in the North East, was announced in February 2005.) The pathfinders will look at innovative approaches to local service delivery by helping to bring together funding and action available to a particular rural area from a range of sources and to target available resources more effectively at local priorities. Some of these priorities may have already been identified within community strategies and by Local Strategic Partnerships, whilst others will emerge as local stakeholders and communities focus on duplication, inefficiencies, obstacles and gaps at a local level.

7. The pathfinders will have an important part to play in influencing Regional Rural Delivery Frameworks as these are developed over 2005/6 and 2006/7 pursuant to the Rural Strategy. As lessons are learnt from the pathfinder projects, we will look to Government Offices to ensure these are mainstreamed, where appropriate, in the Frameworks. We will also seek to ensure that lessons are mainstreamed more widely across government (including local authorities that are not pathfinder councils) and within existing sub-regional partnerships, such as RDA local partnerships, Local Strategic Partnerships and Voluntary and Community Sector consortia. This will require evaluation to be built in from the start, and excellent national and regional communication between pathfinder projects, Government Offices, the LGA, IDeA and Government departments to seek to ensure success can be disseminated effectively (see paragraphs 30-37 below). It is also recognised that there is good practice and effective working by local

authorities (that are not pathfinder councils) across the country and this will be sought out and built on. The IDeA has developed a rural section on its Knowledge website¹ to assist in this.

8. There are clear synergies between the pathfinders and Local Area Agreements (LAAs). Both initiatives are aimed at promoting local solutions to local problems, and at local prioritisation of available resources, often delivered through multiple funding streams. Both are intended to promote innovative delivery arrangements, and a clearer, joined-up, focus on outcomes. DEFRA will work very closely with ODPM and partner councils to ensure that LAAs and the pathfinders are complementary processes, with the Government Offices providing an important link between the two initiatives. One area, Dorset, is both a pathfinder and an LAA pilot, and will thus be particularly valuable as a testing ground for new arrangements.

Pathfinder areas

9. The pathfinder areas are:

North West : Lancashire (lead Council: Lancashire County Council)

North East : West Durham (lead Council: Durham County Council)

Yorks & Humber : Humber Rural Unitary Authorities (covering North Lincolnshire, North East Lincolnshire and East Riding of Yorkshire Council) (lead Council: East Riding of Yorkshire Council)

West Midlands : Shropshire (lead Council: Shropshire County Council)

East Midlands : Peak District Rural Action Zone (covering the Derbyshire High Peak and Dales, Staffordshire Moorlands & East Staffordshire areas of the Peak District National Park) (lead Council: Derbyshire Dales District Council)

South West : Dorset (lead Council: Dorset County Council)

South East : Hampshire (lead Council: Hampshire County Council)

East : Fens area of Cambridgeshire, Norfolk & Peterborough (lead Council: joint between Cambridgeshire County Council & Norfolk County Council)

Aims of the pathfinders

10. The aims of the pathfinders, simply stated, are to experiment with and test:

· ways of achieving more joined-up delivery of services in rural areas, addressing economic, social and environmental issues;

· where practicable, innovation in rural development and delivery of services in rural areas, building as appropriate on existing best practice; and

· better prioritisation of existing resources, in line with local priorities, towards areas, communities and people with the greatest needs.

11. These aims reflect the priorities set out in Rural Strategy 2004: tackling disadvantage and social exclusion in rural areas, helping underperforming rural economies to begin to catch up with the best, and ensuring that the natural heritage is protected.

12. Certain factors underpin the aims as stated above (the examples of approaches outlined below are not intended to be prescriptive):

· The important need for the pathfinders to approach their work from the perspective of sustainable development. They present an opportunity to consider ways of improving the whole approach to rural and natural resources protection policy - what sustainable development means operationally at a local level - and thus the effectiveness of DEFRA's `rural' expenditure through better prioritisation and a clear focus on outcomes.

· The need for those leading the pathfinders to ensure engagement with all relevant partners (as described in paragraph 18). Ensuring that partnership working gets down to the truly local level will be especially important. DEFRA for its part will seek to ensure close working with all relevant Government departments, notably ODPM, the Department for Transport, the Home Office and Department for Education & Skills. The Government Offices for the Regions will have a keen interest in view of their responsibility under the Rural Strategy for the new Regional Rural Delivery Frameworks.

· More joined-up and innovative approaches to service delivery could take a wide variety of forms. They might include, for example, lead local delivery agents for particular issues; promotion of, or support for, social enterprise or voluntary sector-led service delivery models; facilitation of co-location of rural service providers; new approaches to access to services (whether physically, perhaps through new forms of community transport provision or through moving service access points closer to where people live, or electronically); or particular solutions to service delivery `blockages' or gaps.

· Better prioritisation of resources will depend in large measure upon the best possible information about the nature and quantum of existing public sector funding streams in the pathfinder areas. DEFRA will support this through commissioning external research focusing in the first instance on analysing and mapping DEFRA funding streams for rural areas (economic, social and environmental), building on the Department's present review of rural funding streams, but with an expectation that the analysis can be extended more widely after this initial phase (see paragraph 23 below).

Scope

13. `Rural delivery' covers a very broad range of potential policy and service delivery areas and funding streams. As noted above, the focus of the pathfinder projects is how to improve co-ordination and delivery across the broadest range of areas that are relevant to delivering the outcomes set out in Rural Strategy 2004, although clearly individual pathfinders will focus on particular themes. By implication, the scope of the pathfinders will include (and give special attention to) DEFRA's funding streams and programmes. But our expectation is that the projects may also extend to the programmes and funding streams of other Government departments: transport, social services, health, education and housing are obvious examples of areas that are central to rural delivery. In this respect, it is particularly important that there are good linkages between the rural pathfinders and LAAs to maximise the synergies and lessons from the two initiatives.

14. As noted above, the intention is not to be prescriptive about the particular issues or service areas to be covered. Nevertheless, it is clearly important that there is an understanding between DEFRA and the pathfinders on the range of national policy issues and initiatives, upon which the pathfinders can build. These issues are outlined in Annex A. The list includes important areas of DEFRA's work that is particularly relevant to local rural delivery. Clearly, we would not expect all pathfinders to address all of these areas, but we would wish to see good coverage of the issues across the breadth of the pathfinders family:

Outcomes from pathfinders

15. Outcomes, and ways of seeking to achieve them, will clearly vary considerably from area to area. However, in generic terms, all pathfinders should seek to demonstrate progress in delivering the following:

· clearer targeting to address rural social and economic disadvantage through prioritisation of available resources and better, more joined-up rural delivery, leading to better outcomes for rural communities;

· greater alignment and co-ordination of socio-economic, rural community and natural environment activity and funding to make service delivery more efficient and simpler for customers and ensure sustainable outcomes;

· well defined and accountable roles for delivery that are understood by sponsors and customers;

· clearer linkage to wider public sector investment in rural areas (e.g. education, infrastructure) with opportunities to maximise impact through co-ordination and more joined-up working between public agencies and the voluntary and community sectors;

· strengthening of community strategies and other sub-regional plans to provide the direction and local ownership necessary to influence the spending plans of key agencies;

· support in the development of rural-specific (sectoral or geographic) or rural-proofed targets that could be incorporated into Local Public Service Agreements (LPSAs); and

· support in the development of LAAs that provide greater local flexibilities in funding and reporting for adopting performance improvements in rural delivery.

16. Each pathfinder will need to develop an appropriate business plan agreed among its partners, setting out the priorities and activities to deliver the outcomes above (see paragraph 26). Within this business plan, it would be advisable to have a partnership agreement that underpins delivery roles and responsibilities.

Commitment from partners

17. The pathfinders are intended to provide a focus for strengthened partnership working in the particular area, leading to better prioritisation and targeting of available resources. It is important, therefore, that the pathfinders have sufficient resources and commitment to support the drive for full engagement from key partners.

18. As a minimum, pathfinders should ensure that the following partners, as relevant to particular pathfinder themes, are engaged in the process:

· Regional Development Agencies - DEFRA has increased its contribution to the RDA single pot to £72million from 2005/06, with a further £5million in relation to the Business Resource Efficiency and Waste (BREW) programme. Their engagement in the work is therefore essential for the RDAs to be able to demonstrate how they are delivering against regional priorities and national targets (including sustainable development, rural productivity and access to services, and sustainable farming and food).

· All tiers of local government - work would not be expected to stop at the top-tier local level but to involve and engage appropriate districts and boroughs, and parish and town councils, many of which are already actively pursuing innovative ways of tackling local rural concerns. Engagement with quality parish and town councils, as well as those that have already developed Parish Plans, will be particularly important.

· Voluntary and community sector - it will be essential for the pathfinders to find effective ways of engaging with the voluntary and community sectors in view of their key role in tackling social exclusion. The Rural Community Councils play a leading role in this regard and the pathfinders will, in particular, need to work with their RCCs, and ACRE (Action with Communities in Rural England), to ensure their fullest possible involvement.

· Confederated agencies for the Integrated Agency - considerable scope to influence the establishment and working of the IA, particularly in terms of how it could operate and deliver at the regional and local level. It may be that only those pathfinders with relevant land management/environmental concerns actively engage with all the organisations that will form the new IA (Rural Development Service, Countryside Agency and English Nature) and the Forestry Commission (which is aligning closely with the IA).

· Rural customers and stakeholders - one way to ensure the rural customer is involved in the process could be through the Regional Rural Affairs Forums which are being strengthened in line with proposals in the Rural Strategy to provide a more effective rural customer voice. The Forums could also play a useful role in scrutinising the work of the pathfinders, and to help spread any lessons learned.

· Local Strategic Partnerships and other sub-regional partnerships - pathfinders should explore the linkages with various existing sub-regional partnerships, including LSPs, Voluntary and Community Sector consortia, RDA sub-regional partnerships.

· Private sector - pathfinders should seek to engage the private sector given the importance of economic development in many areas, and also the role of many companies in the delivery of rural services and in addressing social issues. This may be over and above the involvement of the private sector in the LSP.

19. It is suggested that, to support the delivery of the pathfinder, a partnership agreement be developed that reflects the roles and responsibilities of partners and helps mitigate against risks to project delivery (see paragraph 28). Given the nature of the pathfinders, this agreement should not be seen as immutable but subject to change through the life of the pathfinder.

Commitment from DEFRA

20. Commitment from Other Government Departments - buy in from OGDs to the pathfinders approach will be essential, not least in helping to alleviate any identified blockages to delivery and in helping to ensure that regional and local players can pull the right levers. DEFRA will seek to ensure close working with all relevant Government departments, notably ODPM, the Department for Transport, the Home Office and Department for Education & Skills, to ensure their commitment to the work.

21. Commitment from DEFRA family and Government Offices - the GOs have a number of roles including acting as a critical friend and a key partner in moving forward issues emerging from the pathfinders. They will also provide a key link to the LAA pilots and sharing learning that emerges. DEFRA will ensure that, where possible, GOs and other members of the DEFRA family (including the Rural Development Service, English Nature etc) are fully supportive of the pathfinder work.

22. Financial support for each pathfinder - DEFRA will be providing each pathfinder with a one off payment of £100k in 2004/05 to support their work. The transfer will be made to the lead pathfinder council using the powers in the Local Government Finance Act 2003. The funds will not be ring-fenced, allowing partners to utilise the funds as they see fit. The funding situation will be kept under review as the work programme develops.

23. Analysis of funding streams - DEFRA will be commissioning research to analyse the extent to which, in each of the local pathfinder areas, the various funding streams available are delivering DEFRA's Strategic Priorities of sustainable rural communities, natural resource protection, and a sustainable farming and food sector. This analysis will underpin the first of the pathfinders' main aims to ensure greater co-ordination of rural delivery programmes at the local level. The aim of Phase 1 of the research project will be to analyse the DEFRA funding streams in the area and map these in detail for each locality. In the light of this first phase of work, there is an expectation that there should be an option to broaden the research to:

(a) cover other Departmental resources;

(b) analyse how spending relates in practice to the outcomes sought from the various DEFRA (and other relevant) funding streams, how well resources are targeted according to need, and where there are gaps; and

(c) examine how national funding stream objectives relate to local priorities.

24. Statistical profiles/baseline evidence of pathfinder areas - DEFRA will be producing statistical profiles of each of the pathfinder areas, which might also help partners in developing their evidence base, particularly as this profile will be based fully on use of the new rural definition. The profiles will include current data on a range of issues, such as population, employment, skills, housing, and access to services (eg GPs' surgeries, post offices), as well as an analysis of the issues. Additionally, all pathfinder authorities will have access to the new Rural Evidence Hub, developed by DEFRA, to enable interactive interrogation of the available statistics for local areas.

25. Local Area Agreements - DEFRA Ministers have said that they are prepared to consider any of DEFRA's funding streams (which fit the LAA criteria) for inclusion into an LAA pilot. Once an LAA pilot has made a proposal to DEFRA, we will, in discussion with the relevant Government Office teams, then decide on a case by case basis whether each funding stream proposed by the LAA pilot is appropriate for inclusion into the LAA.

Timing of pathfinders

26. Each pathfinder area will work through its themes, actions and targets to develop a robust business plan by March 2005. It is anticipated that the pathfinders will then run from April 2005 until early 2007. This would fit neatly with work to develop Regional Rural Delivery Frameworks and work to set up the Integrated Agency, New Countryside Agency and on the Funding Streams Review. In addition, there is scope for lessons learnt through the pathfinders to influence the new Rural Development Regulation and successor to ERDP, particularly the focus and delivery of the Leader element, which will come into force in January 2007.

27. Business plans should be developed in accordance with normal Project Management practice and, in addition to an executive summary, we would expect these to cover the following broad headings:

· Rationale

· Goals and objectives

· Project scope

· Underpinning/baseline evidence

· Success criteria/benefits

· Deliverables

· Major activities

· Timescale

· Governance and accountabilities

· Risks and assumptions

· Resources

· Performance management

28. The business plan should be shared with the key partners (including those set out at paragraph 18) and, ideally, their engagement and commitment to the partnership demonstrated by a partnership agreement setting out the respective roles and responsibilities of the different partners. In areas where the Local Strategic Partnership is driving the pathfinder and an LSP partnership agreement already exists, an additional agreement may not be necessary, but we would want to be assured that all partners are engaged in and committed to the work.

29. It should be explicitly recognised that both the business plan, and underlying partnership agreement, could be subject to change as the pathfinder projects mature.

Networking and communications

30. The pathfinders provide a mix of local authority types, rurality and deprivation, and there is likely to be considerable variation between them in terms of their local priorities and local approach to addressing these. There is, therefore, unlikely to be a single delivery model that suits all. However, Government hopes to benefit from the learning opportunities presented by piloting a range of approaches, and to roll these out more widely to other areas. This may include Government or other agencies offering, for example, freedoms and flexibilities to the benefit of all local authorities (not just those in pathfinder areas).

31. For this reason, the pathfinders need to be seen as a 'family' which, whilst all individual, collectively address a range of delivery issues. To ensure the projects cover this broad range of issues, DEFRA will help to ensure regular and iterative communications between all the players.

32. As the pathfinders progress, the learning and information sharing aspect of the process becomes more important. It is important that we build in the pathfinder partners' views about what will work best, as well as connecting with their own systems for disseminating information. As a first step we would suggest the following:

· a web-based guide to the pathfinders, area profiles, frequently asked questions and, depending on costs and technical constraints, a more interactive support channel;

· e-mail news-shots and updates, with thematic focus drawn from different pathfinders;

· regular meetings, seminars and workshops (including visits) with geographic and thematic focus, together with a pathfinders 'launch event' and 'end-of-pathfinders' conference; and

· building on the Beacon Council peer group mentoring project for rural authorities ('Bespoke Excellence'), potentially extending this not just to pathfinder deliverers but also DEFRA and GO policy and implementation staff to embed the learning.

33. Details of these support elements will be discussed and worked up with the pathfinders, the LGA and IDeA. The outputs from these will be used to inform other partners of progress and learning.

Performance management and evaluation

34. Effective performance management of the rural pathfinders will be critical to their success. DEFRA does not intend to impose a performance management framework on the local area, or to be prescriptive about the performance management systems adopted, other than to ensure, periodically that these are fit for purpose and operating effectively. DEFRA, together with the Government Offices, will agree periodic reviews with the pathfinder lead partners.

35. We will therefore expect the pathfinder lead partners to develop robust performance management and monitoring systems building on existing reporting mechanisms and using the characteristics of performance management best practice². This includes:

· Real-time information - regular and robust performance data;

· Can do culture - inspired by strong leadership;

· Agreed lines of accountability;

· Clear performance management review - combining challenge and support; and

· Transparent set of performance rewards and sanctions.

36. The system should enable:

· local partners to be able to assess and review their progress to date against agreed outcomes, plan for future delivery and identify any dips in performance;

· the local area to provide information to their local people about progress that is being made against priorities;

· the GOs and Government to have information about progress and performance across the pathfinder area;

· the pathfinders to disseminate and share lessons with regional partners; and

· the pathfinders to share information with each other. This might include some agreed common elements of performance information to allow pathfinders to compare and contrast progress amongst themselves.

37. It is important that good evaluation of the pathfinders takes place to ensure that lessons can be learned and successes shared and mainstreamed. In contrast to performance management, arrangements for evaluating the pathfinders will be led nationally, in liaison with pathfinder partners, to ensure consistency of approach. Evaluation arrangements will be built in from the start, and DEFRA has started discussions with the Audit Commission on how best to go about doing this. Both the process of negotiating/setting up the pathfinders and their longer term impacts and outcomes will be evaluated. However in some thematic areas, because it may take a long time to be able to measure whether the ultimate outcomes have been achieved, interim measures of outputs or shorter-term outcomes may have to be agreed. An evaluation framework will be developed with pathfinder partners, comprising a set of success criteria and indicators against which we will be able to evaluate the pathfinder process and outcomes. DEFRA plans to commission an independent mid-term and final evaluation, and will look to appoint external consultants for this early in 2005, following discussions with the pathfinder lead partners.

Set out in Devolving Decision Making: 1 - Delivering better services: refining targets and performance management - March 04 - available on the Treasury website www.hm-treasury.gov.uk

Annex A

List of national policy issues for pathfinders to consider