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CAPACITY BUILDING FOR COMMUNITY PLANNING
CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
CONTEXT
1.1 Eglinton was commissioned by the Community Planning Task Force (CPTF), with the support of Social Research at the Scottish Executive, to carry out a study into the capacity building requirements of Community Planning (CP), with reference to the training and development needs of staff directly concerned with developing and progressing community planning. The study was to focus on 2 key areas:
- Indicate what sort of training and other development work needs to be done to progress CP
- Advise on an appropriate way forward
1.2 The study focused on the skills and development needs of individuals operating within partnerships at 'officer' level or equivalent, from across a range of CP partners. Initial research carried out on behalf of the CPTF indicated that very little training and development work was taking place on the ground, and this study therefore sought to explore the issues behind this, as well as focusing on a way forward. The study was not expected to address some of the wider capacity building issues, such as changes in management or organisational structures, although in advising on a way forward it was likely that the study would draw attention to some of the wider issues.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
1.3 The study sought to explore both training and development needs and assess the scope for building on existing training and development work. Training needs were concerned with areas related to CP, such as:
- leading and giving strategic direction to the CP process
- managing cultural, organisational and other changes and breaking down any associated barriers to CP
- co-ordinating and rationalising partnership activity and plans
- facilitating and supporting the engagement of communities and other interests in CP
- managing, monitoring and reporting on performance in CP
1.4 An examination of existing provision required an analysis of:
- the aims, scope and content of such provision
- organisational support and resourcing
- lessons learned from assessment exercises
- plans for any future development
1.5 Following the research phase, the report was to provide an overview of:
- the training and development needs of staff
- the potential to address these through existing provision
- any additional development work or activity which was necessary, and any constraints on action
- the resourcing implications, with notional costings
- possible next steps
1.6 The Local Government in Scotland Bill, which had been introduced to Parliament at the time of the study, provides for a new duty of CP, allied to a new power of community well-being and a duty of best value. As such, the implications of the Bill were to be considered during the course of the project, in terms of how any 'duty' might impact on capacity building requirements.
METHODOLOGY
1.7 Two research stages were required - Stage 1 involved conducting primary research with a range of community planning partnership (CPP) representatives and Stage 2 involved a secondary research exercise into existing training and development provision. In reality, it was recognised that these stages could be conducted in tandem, thus providing useful feedback loops to each other as the study progressed.
1.8 The primary research phase was conducted by inviting staff from across the CPPs to attend focus group sessions to discuss the key themes of the project. Given the scope and timescales of the project, it was decided to undertake 4 such sessions - 2 with local authority representatives and 1 each with health managers and staff from the local enterprise networks. As such, the primary research element of the project sought views from 3 distinct CPP groupings. It was decided to conduct these sessions through 'homogeneous' groupings, and not to mix the partners. This allowed for in-depth discussion and exploration of the research issues as they related to the 3 separate groupings.
1.9 VCentral locations were chosen for all 4 sessions and all invitees received a letter from the CPTF, outlining the objectives of the exercise and requesting participation. This was followed by a specific request from the interviewers to attend the proposed sessions. The attendees at each session are detailed in Appendix 1 together with other consultees and sources. Each participant received an overview of the issues for discussion, prior to attendance, to allow for early reflection and to allow for consultation with colleagues. This 'topic guide' formed the key focus for each of the 4 focus group sessions. Each session was scheduled to last for 2.5 hours.
1.10 The secondary research phase of the project was undertaken through a literature review and Internet searches, as well as through one-to-one meetings and telephone interviews with identified individuals. This research focused on training and learning provision related to CP, and the individuals consulted were either providers of such services or were leading experts and practitioners within the CP field. Additionally, the research sought to establish how capacity building and any related training and learning activity was being pursued in a wider UK context in England and Wales.
1.11 All interviewees were assured of the non-attributable nature of the study, in order to promote a consultation environment which allowed for full and frank details and opinions. Given some of the complexities involved in the CP process, the interviewers felt that this approach would stimulate in-depth discussion and analysis, with the opportunity to explore extensively what interviewees believed worked well and less well within the CP learning environment.
1.12 As indicated earlier, the study was clearly focused on the views and experiences of those practitioners operating at officer level or equivalent within CPPs on a council-wide basis. As such, the scope to explore training and learning 'demand' and 'supply' at levels closer to the ground were limited. Therefore, a wider understanding of such issues cannot be obtained through this study.
1.13 The study was keenly focused on identifying both current demand for and supply of training and learning interventions which were either formal (e.g. a training course) or informal (e.g. networking opportunities). This was necessary to reflect the full range of learning that might be taking place, in order to identify and address capacity building potential.
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