Oswestry LJC on 16 February
The next meeting of Oswestry Local Joint Committee (LJC) will be a unique opportunity for everyone involved or interested in the town’s voluntary and community sector (VCS) to start planning together for how it can respond to the recent Localism Act, which will have a huge impact on the VCS in the future.
Councillor Martin Bennett, chair of Oswestry LJC, wants to encourage local groups to ask themselves and each other if they’re ready for the challenge, and if they don’t think that they are, what needs to be done to help.
He said:-
“One result of the Localism Act will be that, over the next few years, Shropshire Council will move away from direct delivery to commissioning services from others. This is a really positive opportunity for local groups, but the changes needed to be made by everyone to make it happen will be enormous. We need to think about the capacity of our local groups to create and deliver an Oswestry view of what ‘localism’ really means.
“This may sound like a rather dry subject for an LJC, but the legislation within the Act, combined with the budget savings having to be made by local councils, will mean that the ways in which services are delivered that we take for granted will radically change, leading to great opportunities for voluntary groups, charities and town and parish councils to do the things that local or central government has always had responsibility for.”
The meeting will offer lots of expert advice on localism and its likely impact on the VCS, including an overview of what the sector is already doing in Shropshire to prepare for the changes. There will also be ample opportunity for questions and discussions around some of the key areas.
Councillor Bennett added:-
“It may mean that changes will be necessary to individual organisations to help with the new agenda, but we need to know what these changes will look like. The LJC will play a key role in helping groups come together to have the discussions that need to take place and to provide information and advice; but in these fast-changing times, one thing we can be sure of is that things won’t stay the same, and the ability of voluntary and community groups to adapt will be crucial to how they thrive and survive. I urge all local groups and interested people to come along to the meeting and start finding out more about what the future holds.”
Decisions on the latest round of funding applications to the LJC will also be made at the meeting. The committee is looking to commit the remainder of this year’s budget, and as a high number of applications have been received it is likely to be a competitive process.
The meeting will take place on Thursday 16 February 2012 at 7pm in Eastern Oswestry Community Centre. Everyone is warmly welcome to come along, but if you would like to find out more about the meeting or LJCs generally, please contact Kate Garner, community action manager on 01691 677318 or email kate.garner@shropshire.gov.uk
