Partnerships

Local authorities have long worked in partnership to deliver sustainable development.

Doorstep Green project in Ashton-under-Lyne. Photo by Natural England/Doorstep Greens.

The value of working this way to tackle the complexity of climate change was highlighted in the government’s consultation on the (now abolished) comprehensive area assessment (CAA).

‘‘Councils and their partners are being expected to play a broader role in leading their communities as they tackle significant challenges, such as supporting the development of the local economy, responding to the needs of the rapidly increasing proportion of older people, improving environmental sustainability, tackling climate change and reducing crime and inequalities. The interconnected nature of these challenges highlights the importance of effective local governance, including purposeful engagement with local people.’’
Comprehensive area assessment – joint inspectorate proposals for consultation, summer 2008

Working across the council

Within local authorities, teamwork is essential to meet sustainability and climate change objectives. This will involve the operation of council services that may currently not see the direct connection, such as children’s services, highways or regeneration. Working together across these services will provide opportunities for efficiencies and multiple benefits. These can be reflected in actions to deliver on local area agreement targets and the sustainable community strategy such as:

• obesity in children
• traffic congestion
• household waste
• fuel poverty

as well as reducing CO2 emissions and adapting to climate change.

Local authorities play a key role in brokering partnerships with other stakeholders in the public, private and voluntary sectors at city and regional levels. Their work is central to influencing the development of coherent, comprehensive climate change strategies which deliver more sustainable, better quality environments. Local strategic partnerships (LSPs) are a prime example of appropriate structures for action. The increasing commitment from central and local government to the LSP system (and to the sustainable community strategy as the overarching local plan) will further cement the role of partnerships in the delivery of sustainable communities.

The Sustainable Development Commission has produced a report on local decision making and sustainable development: LSPs, sustainable community strategies and LAAs as part of its capability for local sustainability programme. The report sets out the key responsibilities of local authorities and their LSP partners concerning sustainable development and some of the opportunities and challenges that they face in meeting them. Alongside this the Sustainable Development Commission has developed proposals for a SD Lens which utilises existing data to evaluate local authority performance.

Multi-area agreements (MAAs) bring together local public and private sector partners to coordinate action at a sub-regional scale. Groups of councils covering a functional economic area, such as a city region, have the opportunity to work together on specific initiatives. These agreements will be essential mechanisms in the development of joint actions on climate change and sustainability.

The Nottingham Declaration Partnership has prepared a guide to climate change self evaluation for partnerships and local authorities that want to improve their approach to climate change.