Review of County/City Development Board Strategies

In January 2005 all County Development Boards were requested by the Department of Environment, Heritage & Local Government to carry out a review of their County/City Strategies for the Economic, Social and Cultural Development.

In the review CDBs’ are being asked to focus on their core co-ordination role. This will result in:
- The selection of a limited number of key priorities and actions on which the CDB will concentrate over the next three years;
- A focus on integrative actions aimed at a more join-up approach to local service delivery involving relevant agencies, and;
- A clearly defined implementation programme for 2006 – 2008.

What has happened so far in Fingal?

The Board held its first Review meeting on the 16th February 2005. This meeting was facilitated by Sean O’Riordain of ERM Ireland Ltd. An ERM Report on the operation of the Board including a programme of action for the review is available.

Establishing how to proceed with the Review

At the Fingal Development Board meeting of the 23rd March, ERM facilitated a final discussion on the approach the Board is to take in regard to the preparation of the review of the County Strategy. The objective of the discussion was to determine the detail of the approach and the structure to be used in the Review. A further ERM Report made recommendations on how to proceed with the Review Process.

Identifying Themes for the Review

A survey of Board members was presented at the 2nd Review meeting held on 18th May 2005 concluded the following:
- The need to evaluate what should be retained in terms of actions in the original strategy and what should be retained in terms of the Project Initiatives that were established in 2003.
- Examine the original 8 themes for viability as new groups.
- The role of the Social Inclusion Monitoring Committee and Sustainability Monitoring Committee should be considered at the same time as new themes or groups being formed.

Following discussion at the 2nd Review meeting members agreed the following themes under which to carry out the review:
(1) Integrated Transport;
(2) Health, Welfare, Children & Housing;
(3) Economic Development & Branding;
(4) Education, Information & Awareness;
(5) Natural Environment;
(6) Built Environment.

Themed Workshops to Identify Key Actions

At the 3rd Review meeting held on the 22nd June 2005 workshops for each of the themes listed above were held. The workshops considered actions from the strategy that related to the theme and new proposals tabled by members.

Each workshop was asked to come up with 4/5 priority actions that are achievable, integrative, measurable and capable of being delivered or started in the next three years.

Key Actions for the Draft Revised Strategy

The Directorate over the summer months put detail on the priorities set in the workshops in consultation with the potential partners for each action. The proposed new and revised actions from the June workshops were translated into action templates setting out the rationale, the key steps, expected outputs and outcomes, possible performance indicators and costs. Action Templates

Social Inclusion Proofing the Revised Actions

The Social Inclusion Monitoring Committee carried out a proofing exercise on the draft actions with the objective of ensuring the most positive the Social Inclusion impact of the actions in November. The Social Inclusiom Monitoring Committees Report "3R Proofing of Actions in Revised Draft Strategy" and recommendations of the SIMC were considered by the Board at its meeting on the 7th December 2005.

Consultation

Following a request by the SIM Committee, a copy of the draft revised strategy was sent to those organisations of the Local Community Development not previously involved in the development of the current range of actions. This consultation was facilitated through the Improved Cohesion Steering Committee and a short discussion on the draft strategy took place at a meeting on 12th January 2006. Groups were invited to send any further comments to the FDB for consideration but none have been received to date.

The Process to Date

A schedule of FDB Review meetings in 2005.

Finalising the Revised Strategy

At the Fingal Development Board meeting on the 15th February 2006, the Board adopted the 16 core actions.

These actions will form the basis of the FDB's Revised Strategy for the period 2006-2008.

At the next FDB meeting scheduled for the 15th March 2006 the Board will consider appropriate systems and structures to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the Revised Strategy.

Implementation of the Revised Strategy

The Board adopted the proposed systems and structures for the delivery of the Actions as set out in Chapter 4 (page 25) of the Revised Strategy at its meeting on the 15th March 2006.