Shropshire Partnership conference hears from new police chief

Effective partnership between agencies and communities working together will keep Shropshire a safe place to live and work, a conference has heard.

The Shropshire Partnership Conference took place on Tuesday 4 December 2012 and was well attended by partners from Shropshire Council, public sector agencies, the voluntary and community sector, and businesses.

Robin Thompson, Chair of the Shropshire Partnership, told delegates that in challenging times it was essential that all partners work together on the problems and issues that affect them.

And the recently-elected Police and Crime Commissioner, Bill Longmore addressed the conference on the policing priorities for the West Mercia area.

These include encouraging more partnerships to help people by working together and increasing activity within the community.  Mr Longmore also pledged to tackle anti-social behaviour and to look at the underlying causes of crime to make Shropshire an even safer place to live and work.

The conference included presentations on key issues of welfare reform, inequalities in health, focused local learning and economic growth.  There was also a presentation from Shropshire Council’s operations director, Clive Wright, on the Families Solutions programme, which aims to move resources from managing the problems to addressing the root causes of the issues.

The day included group work sessions with attendees on the themes of employment and skills, reducing inequalities and building resilience to reduce demand.

Councillor Gwilym Butler, Shropshire Council Cabinet member for partnership working, said:

“It was a really useful day and I think everyone came away buzzing with ideas about how we can all work together more effectively in the future.  I’d like to say a big thanks to everyone who came along and made the event such a success.”

To follow a live thread of the day visit the Shropshire Partnership’s Twitter account @ShropPship and search for #shropconf.