Linking strategy to local delivery

The past few years have seen a major push towards outcomes focused working across the public sector.  Much of the focus to date has been on developing high level strategies, principally Single Outcome Agreements, and on developing the overall strategic approach across the Community Planning Partnership. A key challenge, however, lies in ensuring that outcomes-focused working operates not only at the strategic level, but also at the grassroots, within the very communities where partners are seeking to make a difference.

Partnerships seeking to make an outcomes approach work at a local level may find it useful to consider the following questions:

• How to shift the partnership focus from strategy development to implementation?
• How are the strategic priorities set out in the SOA “cascaded” to local areas?
• What structures do you have in place to help drive outcomes focused working within local areas?
• How important is it to have “local champions” for an outcomes approach?
• What are the main barriers to outcome-focused working within your local area? How can these barriers be addressed?
• Is there any potential for tension between a Council-wide and a locality approach?
• What is the scope for local interpretation and prioritisation of outcomes?
• How is the partnership going to demonstrate that it is making a real difference for people and communities- particularly the most deprived communities?

• How can local areas influence strategic debates and is this important?

On this page you can also access presentations and discussion questions from a workshop delivered by the Improvement Service and the Levenmouth local area manager from Fife.