History:
Hosted and managed by London Civic Forum, the London Empowerment Partnership was part of the National Empowerment Partnership which was managed by the Community Development Foundation. It was funded between 2007 and 2011 by the Department for Communities and Local Government. The London Empowerment Partnership worked to improve the quality, coordination and evidence of community empowerment across London, supporting citizens and communities in increasing their ability to influence decisions that affect their lives.
About:
In March 2011, when funding for the programme ended, the LEP task force took the opportunity to focus on what its role should be beyond March 2011. The initial evaluation findings paper presented to the last Task Force meeting suggested 3 objectives for the Partnership to focus on in future:
- To raise the profile and understanding of community involvement particularly in the context of the new Government agenda
- To network between the public, voluntary and community sectors with a view to improve the coordination of community involvement practice across London
- To disseminate specialist knowledge, advice and evidence around good practice
The LEP is now working closely with the Your Voice, Your City programme (link here to page) so that it can take forward and benefit from, as well as ensuring a lasting legacy for the learning from the LEP and its subgroups. The LEP task force and Your Voice, Your City will work together to:
- Identify and prioritise key participation/ engagement policy areas for Londoners and public and VCS sectors
- Identify opportunities for influence of key decision makers across London and nationally
- Identify organisations from across public, private, VCS and academic sectors which could contribute to specific policy debates and discussion
London Civic Forum and the LEP continues to support the following networks:
- Community Development Network London
- London Boroughs Community Engagement Network Group (LBCENG) provides a forum for local authority officers directly involved in engagement to network and share information and best practice about engaging with the community. The primary aim of the group is to provide a forum through which members will be supported in improving engagement and involvement opportunities in their borough.
- Third Sector Empowerment Forum (TSEF) comprised of representatives from third sector organisations, this group debates and reflects on issues impacting on the role of the sector in community empowerment and provides expert advice to the LEP Task Force.
Additional information:
To find out more about the work of the LEP since 2007 please see the Catalogue of Resources .
The LEP programmes are independently evaluated – please see our LEP Programme Evaluation 09/10 (pdf) , Targeted Support Programme Evaluation 09/10 (pdf) and Evaluation of the work of the LEP 2007-2011: final report (pdf).
For details on how to join the partnership or updates on work resulting from 09/10 evaluation recommendation, please contact Deirdre McGrath, Head of Civic Engagement on 0208709 9774 or email Deirdre@londoncivicforum.org.uk
