The new Strategic Community Plan 2005 to 2010 endorses the partners’ commitment to the themes within the first Strategic Community Plan. The priorities for 2005-2010 include a new learning-based theme recognising the importance that lifelong education and learning plays in achieving the vision for our area. The Plan also reflects four recurring themes, which overarch all the activities of the Community Planning Partnership. These are:
Sustainable development and solutions
The partners within the Community Planning Partnership take their obligations for sustainable development seriously and will seek to further mainstream sustainable development and solutions into everyday business practice by:
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Leaders and senior officers in partnership organisations demonstrating commitment and directly contributing towards the attainment and promotion of sustainable development;
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Sustainable development being reflected in community planning and partnership policies, strategies and plans;
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Plans and priorities being informed by our communities and key stakeholders;
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Joint review and procurement activity reflecting sustainable development issues; and
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Taking a systematic and evidence-based approach in decision-making and the management of resources.
Equal opportunities and equity of access
The Community Planning Partnership recognises that individuals have different needs and there are barriers that can prevent some people from fully participating in community life. The community planning partners will work to ensure that all people and communities have equal access to services and can play an equal part in all aspects of community life, regardless of income, economic or social circumstances, disability, religion, race, gender, sexual orientation or age. The Community Planning Partnership will therefore:
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Target action towards people or groups who may not normally be included in society, or whose circumstances may make it difficult to access facilities or services;
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Endeavour to provide equal opportunities for everyone and make sure that no one person has a poorer standard of service or opportunity than any other;
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Seek to mainstream equal opportunities and equity of service and access into our policies, strategies and plans;
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Monitor the impact of policies, strategies and plans on equal opportunities;
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Ensure the diversity of service users is reflected in the information we provide; and
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Operate in a manner consistent with statutory obligations and requirements in this area.
Community engagement
Community planning should involve anyone interested in working for the benefit of their community. The Falkirk Community Planning Partnership will therefore continue to engage with local communities and develop community involvement in a co-ordinated manner as part of the community planning process at both a strategic level and through Local Community Planning. Local people will be supported to develop their own actions in response to issues in their area.
Strengthening partnership working
Since the first Strategic Community Plan was developed, much has been achieved to develop effective working partnerships. The continual commitment to partnership working has built on existing service provision and has provided opportunities for co-ordinating partners’ work in a more meaningful way. The process has also generated a culture of consistently working together, fostering new working relationships that have built on the strengths of existing ones, creating new opportunities for joint initiatives and identifying opportunities for the pooling of expertise between partners. The Falkirk Community Planning Partnership is also committed to improving engagement and communication with the community and internally with its own employees.
In addition to the areas already highlighted the Community Planning Partnership recognises the key role it has on the Public Sector Reform agenda. This is a national agenda to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Public Services. In achieving this, Public Services require to develop innovative service delivery solutions to meet the needs of citizens and stakeholders through initiatives such as shared services and service integration.