Every local authority in the country is required to establish a Local Strategic Partnership (LSP).

LSPs are a group of organisations - key stakeholders such as major businesses, government organisations, public sector agencies, and representatives from voluntary and community groups - who all get together to discuss important issues about an area.  Working together as a true partnership, they look at how well their area is doing, what is working and not working, and they provide solutions together on how best to tackle problems.

Liverpool First is Liverpool's LSP and is chaired by the Leader of the City Council.  Other bodies are represented on the partnership by senior officers from the different partner organisations.

Government Guidance defines a LSP as a single body that:

• brings together, at a local level, the different parts of the public sector as well as the private, business, community and voluntary sectors so that different initiatives and services support each other working together
• it is a non-statutory, non-executive organisation
• it operates at a level which enables strategic decisions to be taken and is close enough to individual neighbourhoods to allow actions to be determined at a community level and
• should be aligned with Local Authority boundaries.

Core tasks

The core tasks of Liverpool First are to:

• prepare and implement the Sustainable Community Strategy (SCS)
• prepare and implement the Local Area Agreement (LAA)
• bring together local plans and partner initiatives to provide a forum through which mainstream public service providers work effectively together to meet local needs
• develop and implement the SCS and LAA which aims to provide more jobs, businesses and skills, better education, improved health, safer, green neighbourhoods and better housing
• narrow the gap between the most deprived neighbourhoods and the rest
• create effective partnership working to respond to the Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) and government policy agenda.

Structure of Liverpool First

Liverpool First is a network of organisations.  In order to achieve its objectives and run its operations effectively, Liverpool First has set up a number of partnership groupings. The structure includes:

• Liverpool First Executive Board
• Liverpool First Executive Advisory Group
• Three Task Groups
  • Community Cohesion & Equalities
  • Culture
  • Environment and Sustainability
• Five Strategic Issue Partnerships (SIPs)
  • Liverpool First for Health and Wellbeing
  • Liverpool First for Housing
  • Liverpool First for Safer & Stronger Communities
  • Liverpool First for Children & Young People (Children's Trust)
  • Liverpool First for Economic Growth
• District Committees 
• Neighbourhood Partnership Working Groups (NPWGs).

Liverpool First is supported by a small Executive Team, which provides support to partners in the development and co-ordination of the partnership and its work.

• View Liverpool First's draft Working Protocols (PDF 325kb)