Structure and membership

Feasibility of merger

Currently a study is being conducted into the feasibility of merging Worthing Together LSP with Adur in Partnership LSP.

For news on this, click on Feasibility of merger

Worthing Together LSP

is composed of -

• The Steering Group - a focussed decision-making group of around 20 partners drawn from 12 local partnerships and a number of key budget-holding agencies: Worthing Borough Council, West Sussex County Council, West Sussex Primary Care Trust, Sussex Police, West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, and the Environment Agency.

• The Wider LSP – a consultative forum of partners and other stakeholders that meets at least once a year.

For a larger version of the diagram above, in pdf format, click on the link at the bottom of this page.

WT Steering Group

The Steering Group meets at least 4 times a year, develops, monitors and evaluates the Worthing Sustainable Community Strategy, and receives and conveys information to/from the Wider LSP.

Each partnership/organisation represented on the Steering Group must nominate a lead person and a substitute of appropriate calibre and expertise to attend Steering Group meetings.

Duties of Steering Group Members

•  To provide the link between the Worthing Together Steering Group and the organisation/partnership they represent

• To represent the views of their partnership/organisation

• Where relevant, to co-ordinate the contribution of their partnership/organisation to the Sustainable Community Strategy and related work programmes, and report progress to the Steering Group regarding its delivery

• To have authority from their partnership/organisation to sign up to the Sustainable Community Strategy and matters relating to the functioning of Worthing Together (eg timetables, events, etc)

• To raise opportunities for partnership working with other partners

• To advise the Worthing Together Communications Sub-Group of any publicity opportunities

WT Partnerships

Worthing Together has evolved as a ‘partnership of partnerships’. There are twelve local partnerships linked to the LSP including a number of ‘thematic’ partnerships. A thematic partnership is a collection of organisations with a similar service focus, eg health, community safety, transport, and so on. There should be sufficient thematic partnerships to cover all services in Worthing and all should be linked to Worthing Together. Only one (the Crime & Disorder Reduction Partnership or CDRP) is a statutory body set up by Government. The other partnerships are voluntary and operate at the level of forums.

It is hoped that each thematic partnership would:

• Be as inclusive as possible, encompassing a wide range of organisations from the big public service agencies to small voluntary groups, as appropriate

• Become the over-arching partnership body for its sector, identifying priorities and co-ordinating services

• Elect a lead member and substitute to the Worthing Together Steering Group

Value will be added to the work of the individual member-organisations by working together on sectoral issues. Moreover, by being part of Worthing Together, it will be possible to enjoy cross working opportunities with organisations from other partnerships.

It is important that senior figures, ie people who can influence the planning and resource decisions of their own organisations once priorities have been agreed by their partnership, as well as some community representatives, attend partnership meetings.