Grass Roots Influence: Make Your Voice Heard

Grass roots influence

GRCC works with communities in a variety of ways to find out what issues are important and to bring these issues to the fore.

Over the past few years, one of the most radical recent changes in the way in which resources are allocated in Gloucestershire has been the development of Local Area Agreements (LAA). This is a new way of working between central government, local authorities and local partners which aims to allow greater flexibility for local solutions. LAAs are vital to our rural communities as priorities are set for each target area identified and funding will aim to support services that meet those targets. Much of the funding coming into Gloucestershire is now diverted through the LAA so it is vital that we understand the decision making processes in order to influence them

The Gloucestershire Local Area Agreement (LAA)
In Gloucestershire, the LAA has been developed on a countywide basis and it is divided into 5 themed ‘blocks’. Each of these blocks has a countywide partnership ‘strategy group’ made up of representatives of the three sectors (statutory, voluntary and business) to make decisions. These blocks are: *Safer and Stronger Communities *Healthier communities and older people *Children and young people *Economic development and enterprise *Natural and built environment The areas of culture, food, learning, sport and physical activity are represented in each block. More information on the Gloucestershire LAA can be found here.

Local Strategic Partnerships
At a district level, the Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) represents the ‘bottom up’ approach to setting priorities and action and it is essentially a board and themed groups made up of representatives from the 3 sectors. Each district approaches the LSP in a slightly different way but they all have a community strategy and an action plan which are regularly revisited to align them with the LAA. Each LSP sends representatives to the countywide LAA strategy groups. The links to the 6 LSPs in Gloucestershire are below.

Rural LSPs:
Cotswold
Forest of Dean
Stroud
Tewkesbury

Urban LSPs:
Cheltenham
Gloucester

FAQ

How does the LSP system relate to the parish, district and county councillor system?
The LSP system runs parallel to the elected member system and there will be councillors on the LSP representing parish and district council interests.

Who should I contact if I have an issue to bring forward in one of the rural LSPs?
In the first instance, contact the GRCC rural adviser for your district. These are as follows:

Cotswold District:
Marilyn Cox (North Cotswolds) marilync@grcc.org.uk
or Ginette James ginettej@grcc.org.uk
Forest of Dean:
Kate Baugh kateb@grcc.org.uk
Stroud District:
Angela Burlow angelab@grcc.org.uk
Tewkesbury District:
Christopher Cowcher christopherc@grcc.org.uk