In March 2005, and as one of the 20 Local Area Agreements pilot areas, Doncaster Council launched a Local Area Agreement (LAA) entitled Building a Culture of Responsibility which sets out the borough's key objectives with regard to delivering quality integrated services.
The aim is to integrate and align public services in Doncaster. Services are being developed according to the needs of the customer, focused on those with the greatest need, rather than individual organisational boundaries. For service users this means that services are easier to access, delivered in their local communities, and respond to their needs through a single package. This document alongside the Borough Strategy and The Corporate Plan shapes the way in which services are delivered to Doncaster’s communities. In Doncaster the three over-arching themes are: ‘Children and Young People’, ‘Safer and Stronger Communities’, and ‘Healthier Communities and Vulnerable People’.
In order to oversee the effective implementation of the LAA, Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council has restructured and devolved to area based working across five geographical areas. These include North, South, East, Urban and West. These are further devolved to 15 neighbourhood management areas throughout Doncaster of which the Conisbrough & Denaby neighbourhood is one.
The aim of the Conisbrough & Denaby Neighbourhood Management area is to help residents and local service provider’s work together at neighbourhood level to improve and join up local services make those services be more responsive to local needs ensuring they deliver priority outcomes. The exact model used depends on local circumstances and varies depending on need and what already exists.
The purpose of this document is to drive forward our efforts to tackle inequalities, whilst evidencing how effectively we address our priority objectives for the area; and to identify gaps in service provision that need to be addressed. To achieve this we have consulted with a range of internal and external partners including:
| South Yorkshire Police | Connexions |
| Community Partnerships | St Leger Homes |
| Primary Care Trust | South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue |
| South Yorkshire Passenger Executive | Job Centre Plus |
| Doncaster Community Empowerment Network | Schools |
This ‘Joined Up’ approach enables us to agree responsibility for service delivery, to create stronger links to present and new partners and ultimately to develop action plans that are flexible, measurable and can be delivered.
Lesley Sutcliffe, Manager at Conisbrough Social Education Centre commissioned an excellent piece of work with service users at the day centre to help us look at neighbourhood issues.
Pictured are Karen Boldy, Ann Barnfield, Beverley Davis and Carol Younge with their artwork detailing what they like about their neighbourhood and Jayne Brammer, Richard Booth and Janet Squires looking at their neighbourhood dislikes.
“We love going to the Ivanhoe Community Centre. We do QI Gong and Bingo, we also like to have tea and toast”“We think that the bus service in Conisbrough is good. We like the new double decker buses because they are clean and comfortable. We don’t have to wait long before a bus comes. We go to Rotherham, Mexborough, Doncaster, Wath, Sheffield and Meadowhall on the bus”
“We love Conisbrough Castle. It’s a good place to visit especially in the summer. The staff there are friendly and helpful”
Social Education Centre staff also worked with Jayne Brammer, Richard Booth, and Janet Squires to produce similar artwork to describe their dislikes.
"We think that there is a lot of crime in Conisbrough. Our day centre was burgled and it makes us feel upset”
“There is a lot of dog mess on the pavements. We think dog owners should clean up the mess. There should be plenty of dog waste bins for people to use”
“We don’t like to see gangs of young people hanging around the streets after dark. Sometimes they are outside the local shops and takeaways. It makes us feel scared to walk past them”
