Action In Rural Sussex

West Sussex Rural Partnership

Aims of the Rural Partnership

The aim of the partnership is to bring together the key organisations that develop strategy and policy in West Sussex to ensure the best use of resources across the County to deliver projects and services in rural areas and to monitor the delivery of the Local Area Agreement (LAA) in rural areas.

The Rural Partnership in its present format and membership has been operating for just under 2 years.  It meets 4 times a year and has reporting mechanisms to the West Susex Public Service Board and to regional and national rural forums and boards reporting to both DEFRA and the Rural Minister.

The Rural Partnership organises a Rural Forum twice a year to discuss with a broader interest group current topics or issues.  Last year this focused on access to health services and has resulted in some key issues and priorities being identified by the PCT, West Sussex County Council and other partners to take forward.

The role of the Forum is about an exchange of information and the Rural Partnership has a role to fully understand rural issues and make representations, where appropriate on behalf of rural interests.

Rural Partnership and Rural Forum Meeting schedule 2010

Rural Partnership Meetings 

Tuesday 23 March 2010             2.00pm - 4.00pm      Billingshurst Village Hall

Monday 28 June 2010                2.00pm - 4.00pm      Billingshurst Villlage Hall

Tuesday 21 September 2010      2.00pm - 4.00pm      Billingshurst Village Hall

Tuesday 25 January 2011           2.00pm - 4.00pm     Billingshurst Village Hall

Rural Forum Meetings

Tuesday 23 March 2010             9.30am - 1.00pm      Billingshurst Village Hall

Wednesday 10 November 2010   9.30am - 1.00pm      Brinsbury College

Contact Us

Action in rural Sussex provides the secretariat and organises the meetings of the Rural Partnership and Rural Forum. For more details or for information please contact:

Teresa Gittins, Head of Strategy and Communications

Tel: (01273) 405442 Email: teresa.gittins@ruralsussex.org.uk

 

Role of the Rural Partnership

The role of the Rural Partnership is to:

  1. Monitor the progress and outcomes of the projects in the LAA and to report to the West Sussex Public Service Board on the delivery of the LAA targets in rural areas and to recommend improvements in delivery.
  2. Ensure that the LAA proposals are rural proofed.
  3. Pull together priorities for rural areas from the organisations represented and agree priorities for action to be promoted to regional and national bodies, e.g. GOSE, SEEDA, ODPM, Natural England and the Commission for Rural Communities.
  4. To develop, monitor and co-ordinate rural delivery programmes within the County.
  5. Act as a lobbying group to influence regional and national strategy, policy and allocation of funding.
  6. Discuss priorities with respect to fields of interest of constituent organisations and make links where possible across the organisation to make the best use of funding.
  7. Liaise with Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs), County Local Committees (CLC) and other similar partnerships to put forward the rural case and ensure collaboration over projects where possible.
  8. Organise an annual meeting of the West Sussex Rural Forum, as the wider stakeholder group, to develop new policies and discuss issues.
  9. To organise other meetings and consultation events as deemed necessary by the Partnership.
  10. Work with the West Sussex Rural Connections Group to deliver economic initiatives and other relevant groups to ensure delivery in rural areas.

 

Membership

Membership of the Rural Partnership :-

  • One member from the West Sussex Association of Local Councils
  • One member from the Sussex Police
  • One member from the West Sussex Economic Partnership
  • (One member from the West Sussex Public Service Board)
  • One member from the West Sussex Sustainability Forum
  • One member from the West Sussex Rural Forum
  • One member from Action in rural Sussex
  • One member from West Sussex County Council
  • One member from each of the four rural district councils, Horsham, Chichester, Mid Sussex and Arun.
  • One member from the three protected landscapes, e.g. South Downs Joint Committee
  • One member representing the PCT
  • One member from the Children’s Trust
  • One member from the National Farmers Union (NFU).
  • One Member from the Land and Country Business Association (CLA)
  • One member from GOSE
  • One member from SEEDA
  • Other members as agreed by the Partnership either on a temporary or permanent basis.
  • Either Member or Staff representation or a combination of both is permissible for all organisations.

For more information please click here to contact us