Projects and Representation

The Devon Consortium represents the interests of the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) at Devon Strategic Partnerships. This is in order to enable better systems of accountability and an open flow of information and dialogue between members, representatives and statutory bodies.

In order to realise its stated outcomes, the Devon Consortium has identified the three programmes which we believe will realise our objectives. These are:

  • Collaboration, Partnership and Representation Project (CPRP)

  • Services to Grass Roots

  • Rural Volunteering

At present we only have funding for one of these projects, which is CPRP. Further information about this programme can be found here.

 Experience of Project Delivery

In year one of ChangeUp, the Devon Consortium delivered 13 projects. The leads of these projects were drawn from members of the consortium. The skills of these individuals varied with some having extensive project management experience in the commercial sector, some within the voluntary sector and other with less demonstrable project management skills but with a great deal of experience within the voluntary and community sector itself.

The projects themselves varied in size and complexity and the Consortium endeavoured to fit lead organisations and resources most appropriate.

In acknowledgement of the fact that we could learn from our initial experiences and improve our ability to select Project Leads and thus mitigate any associated risks to our projects, we undertook a formal independent evaluation of a selection of our projects.

It is with the outcomes of this evaluation in mind that we have revised our selection processess for this round of ChangeUp projects and have also reviewed the support available to Project Leads from the Consortium through the appointment of a Consortium Development and Support Worker.

Projects we have completed in 2007/08 are:

  • Representation and Communities of Interest
  • Performance Improvement
  • A Compact for Devon

More information on these can be found here.

List of partnerships:

Children’s Trust Executive
Devon Economic Partnership
Devon Futures Group
Devon Strategic Partnership (DSP) Board
Equalities Strategy and Scrutiny Group
Health and Wellbeing Partnership                                   
My Life, My Choice - previously the Partnerships for Older People Project (POPP)
Safer Devon Partnership
Stronger, Inclusive Communities Partnership

What are Strategic Partnerships?

The County strategic partnership (Devon Strategic Partnership) and Devon County Council, working closely with districts and local strategic partnerships help lead the LAA (Local Area Agreement).It’s a 3-year agreement between the Government and

Devon to deliver a series of outcomes for the County. By working with a range of partners in a new way, the LAA will enable the voluntary and community sector to help in delivering the long-term vision of improving life in the County.

What are the benefits for Devon?

Local strategic partnerships able to work ‘with teeth’, greater accountability to local people, simplified funding arrangements, reduced ring-fencing of resources, for local flexibility, and freedom from some ‘red tape’.

What is covered by a Local Area Agreement?

All LAAs are structured around these four ‘blocks’:

  • Children and young people

  • Healthier communities and older people

  • Safe and stronger communities

  • Economic development and enterprise  

The voluntary and community sector has an interest in all these blocks because it includes service providers, user representatives etc.


It also has an interest in cross-cutting issues (i.e. those relating to more than one ‘block’) such as environment, equality and access to services.   For more information please see: 

Devon LAA at www.devonlaa.org.uk

Devon Strategic Partnerships at www.devonsp.org.uk