Wakefield District Partnership Summit

VCSE organisations are invited to Wakefield District Partnership Summit.

The Summit will include a broad range of partners from across different sectors within the Wakefield District, and will be the launch of a period of engagement, consultation and development of a new Wakefield District Plan.

Wakefield has always embraced the benefits of strong partnership collaborations, and feedback suggests that now is the right time to take our work forward as a jointly owned District Plan, combining our joint expertise, energy and resources to achieve real outcomes for our residents.

The Plan – which you can be involved in shaping -  will identify key areas where collaboration across the different sectors can add value to residents and businesses over and above what is currently being delivered through existing thematic partnerships and networks.

Why a new District Partnership Plan?

• It is an opportunity to extend collaboration, combining and harnessing the expertise and energy across organisations more effectively, working on agreed common goals, aligning our priorities and resources better with more integrated working across social, economic and environmental activities, and planning more for the longer term.
• The complexity of the issues currently faced by residents and businesses within the District mean that we need to work smarter together to tackle them.
• Covid showed what could be achieved, at speed, efficiently and delivering real, tangible outcomes for residents and businesses.
• The new Government has a keen eye on public service and activity within places, with a thread of partnership working running throughout their manifesto. Now is the time to show that Wakefield is ideally placed to pilot innovations and increase investment into the District.

The significant budget pressures all partners face are leading to increasingly difficult decisions around service delivery and funding, so it is vital that we pull together as a collective.

The Summit will cover the above rationale, and begin the conversation with partners around the challenges and opportunities we face as a District.

It’s incredibly important that they hear about what’s important to the VCSE sector and how you think we can come together to work on common goals and ambitions.

 If you can’t spare the time to come to the Summit next week, please know that there are other ways you can get involved. The Summit is just the start of the conversation, and will be followed up with more in-depth discussions with a wide and diverse group of people over the coming months. This will include VCSE organisations and we will work with existing networks to facilitate this.

If you are interested in attending, please contact together@wakefield.gov.uk