Securing a better quality of life and opportunities for all is at the heart of Aspire 2 Perform - a new support programme designed to help Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) in the East of England take the lead in improving their communities.

The Government has tasked LSPs with providing the strong leadership required to ensure improvements happen in the delivery of public services at a local level by bringing partners together to deliver the objectives in Local Area Agreements.

To help partnerships achieve this, the East of England LSP Network, the Government Office for the East of England (GO-East), the East of England Regional Assembly (EERA) and Inspire East have been working together to develop tools and techniques to help LSPs realise their potential.

The result is Aspire 2 Perform, the East of England’s support and capacity building programme for partnerships, which builds on the existing regional LSP Network and is supported by funding from Improvement East.

A launch was held at Newmarket Racecourse in April, with more than 25 Local Strategic Partnerships attending the event.

Alex Stewart, Programme Director for Aspire 2 Perform, said: “Aspire 2 Perform offers LSPs the opportunity to assess their own organisations and work together to strengthen and develop their partnerships through tailored support and generic tools. LSPs will be able to share experiences, expertise and develop ideas.

"They need support to shift their focus from primarily building consensus on strategy and priorities to actively managing local delivery.”

The aim of Aspire 2 Perform is to encourage a culture of self-assessment and continuous improvement by building on the knowledge and experience within the region’s partnerships.

A new Aspire 2 Perform Diagnostic Toolkit will help partnerships measure their effectiveness and will be the starting point for accessing support.

The toolkit is only one aspect of the programme of support but provides the focus for identifying partnership needs and setting the direction for partnership improvement.

The results of individual diagnostics will help develop a regional benchmark against which progress can be measured and exemplar partnerships developed.

Gordon Johnston, Chair of the LSP Network, added: “Aspire 2 Perform will help LSPs meet the challenges they all face and emphasises the need to work together through the Network if they are to achieve their full potential.

“This is an exciting time for partnerships and a great opportunity to help fulfil the Government’s ambition of empowering communities to have a greater say in the way local services are shaped and delivered.”

For more information about Aspire 2 Perform, LSPs should contact Becky Dorling on rebecca.dorling@eera.gov.uk