Southend Together is the Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) for Southend-on-Sea. LSPs were created to aid partnership working between local agencies and the community. Southend Together was established in 2002 and is being reshaped this year to better reflect the changing demands on LSPs.
The 'partnership of partnerships' is evolving, and functions via:
- The Board
- The Executive
- Public, private and voluntary and community sector forums
- The community
The Board, with the support of the Executive, co-ordinates the work, agrees the priorities and ensures the targets are met. The Board includes representatives from the public sector, including the Council, health, education and the police. The private sector, voluntary and community groups are also represented. The underlying partnerships, such as the Crime and Disorder Partnership, will help the Board to reach the targets and meet the priorities.
The two main projects for this year are the development of the Sustainable Community Strategy (SCS) and the Local Area Agreement (LAA). The SCS is the overarching plan for the community, setting out the vision and priorities for the town. This will replace the current Community Plan. The LAA is a three year agreement based on the local SCS that sets out the priorities for a local area agreed by central government and the local area represented by the local authority and other key partners through the LSP.
The Independent Chair of the LSP is Councillor Nigel Holdcroft.