Local government has a long established track record of peer working.
The principle behind this is that local government has the talent and energy to drive its own improvement. Helping councils challenge and learn from each other is at the heart of IDeA's improvement support.
It also means that lessons learned are shared throughout the sector as well as being fed into national policy.
This approach has been achieved by peer review and challenge, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.
A team of peers who understand the pressures and issues involved in running a local authority review the practices of another council to provide challenge in identifying strengths and areas for improvement.
Increasingly the focus of improvement support is moving beyond traditional organisational boundaries. Within a local area, organisations are increasingly working together to tackle the issues that are most important to local communities, such as the strength of the local economy, the availability of affordable housing, how safe people feel, the opportunities and support for individuals to improve their health, and the quality of the local environment.
These issues are not the preserve of any one public body but can only be achieved by a collective willingness to tackle thorny issues and sustained collective endeavour.
Effective partnerships
The focus on outcomes through effective partnership working is reflected in the new performance framework and introduction of the comprehensive area assessment (CAA) from April this year.
CAA assesses how well local services are working together to improve the quality of life for local people. For the first time, local public services will be held collectively to account for their impact on better outcomes.
This means that CAA will look across councils, health bodies, police forces, fire and rescue services and others responsible for local public services, which are increasingly expected to work in partnership to tackle the challenges facing their communities.
The nature of peer support needs to continue to develop to carry on driving improvement and to meet the increasing needs of partnership
working.
The IDeA has been working with: National Police Improvement Agency (NPIA); NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement (NHSII); Chief Fire Officer's Association (CFOA); National Association for Voluntary and Community Action; Compact Voice (based at the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO).
The aim is to identify peers with the skills, knowledge and experience
to provide support and challenge to local partnerships.
"The Chief Fire Officer Association is pleased to be working with the IDeA on establishing a competent peer network within the sector as well as working with Fire and Rescue Services to review their operational assessments," said Nick Collins, director of performance and improvement, CFOA.
"We understand that for our sector to continue its drive for further improvement , we need to work together with local government to build up knowledge and share best practice - our partnership with the IDeA is helping us achieve this goal."
This new partnership approach to the supply of peers is launched today.
