The diversity of Bournemouth makes the demand for a coherent Community Plan all the more significant.  Therefore, ahead of the Government’s agenda, the first Bournemouth Community Plan was launched in May 2000 by the Bournemouth Partnership.  This partnership brings together over 100 organisations, which are committed to improving the quality of life and services to the public in Bournemouth.  The Community Plan (revised version published in April 2002), involved local people and partners working together to agree local priorities, objectives and targets for Bournemouth.  As an example of our development towards achieving national targets on E-Government, an electronic version of the Community Plan and Partnership database supports joint working and can be accessed by the wider community on www.bournemouth.gov.uk/partner.  The Community Plan’s five priorities are:

•  Strengthening Our Economy
•  Education and Lifelong Learning
• Developing Communities And Tackling Crime
•  Sustaining Our Environment
• Caring For People

Full meetings of the whole Partnership take place every September/October, with a Steering Group and five Partnership Forums now established to improve co-ordination of its resources and direct them towards achieving each of the Community Plan priorities.  A top-level representative (including the Chairs of the five Partnership Forums) occupies each of the 20 places on the Steering Group.  Partners strongly support this initiative with recent studies demonstrating positive relationships with key stakeholders (e.g. the PCT, Police and Chamber of Commerce) ensuring that due regard is paid to both local and national priorities.

Modernised Bournemouth Council

The five Community Plan priorities are the Council’s priorities and with the addition of “Quality Services and Value for Money”, these make up the six corporate priorities.  These run through the whole Bournemouth Borough Council organisation, directing the Cabinet Forward Plan, the Scrutiny and Review Forward Plan, the Best Value Performance Plan, Business Plans and staff work programmes as well as the portfolio themes of its Cabinet and Scrutiny and Review functions.

The Community Plan underpins our new system of Leader and Cabinet decision-making, which came into force on 1 April 2002, and hence the allocation of resources to the Council’s corporate priorities. 

The Council has given the job of tackling these priorities to six portfolio holders in its nine Member Cabinet.   Similarly, there are six Scrutiny and Review Panels directly linked to the six Council priorities. There are also five Statutory Boards including a Standards Board (with two independent representatives), which has been established since 2001.

The Council is encouraging Area Forums to develop in the eight natural community areas in Bournemouth as a result of the wishes of residents and local representatives.  It is felt that the long-term prospects of success are greater if they are not imposed upon Communities.

Standards and Ethics

Bournemouth Members have taken time to develop the new Constitution, but this careful planning and strategic approach has put them in a good position to create a focused, collaborative, ethical and open system of Government. 

The Standards Board is responsible for promoting and maintaining high standards of conduct by Councillors and training will ensure that all members are aware and updated regularly of what is expected of them.

We are now planning further work to involve local people and communities, putting Bournemouth in an even stronger position to meet the standards required for Local Strategic Partnership accreditation.

Involving People

We involve residents in the business of the Council through printed and electronic communications as well as using the Bournemouth Citizens’ Panel (established in 1999).  The Bournemouth Journal is a key Council communication with copies delivered every two months to all households in the Town - and recently redesigned upon Community Plan/Council priorities. 

Following a number of difficult, controversial decisions, we recognise the importance for decisions to be made on the basis of good information in the correct way, without undue delay, taking stakeholders, including the general public, along with us wherever possible.  With the allocation of additional resources by the Council on consultation, we will be improving how we can keep in touch more effectively with Bournemouth residents.  The Constitution provides for all reports to Cabinet to be clear about the consultation arrangements.  The importance of the Cabinet Forward Plan in highlighting future key decisions is recognised and is aimed at improving consultation with the community, especially through the five Partnership Forums and Area Forums.