20/12/2013
Archived item. This item is published here for historical reasons. The information below may be out of date.
Local Community Development Committee established in South Dublin County
South Dublin County Council hosted the first meeting of the new Local Community Development Committee (LCDC) on Wednesday 18th December 2013.
The establishment of this new committee is in line with ‘A Guide to Putting People First: Action Plan for Effective Local Government’ which is committed to reviewing the delivery of services at local level, to ensure that public services are best delivered through locally based bodies that are responsive to the local needs and circumstances.
One of the main reforms outlined in the ‘Action Plan’ is the establishment of new Local Community Development Committees (LCDCs) in each county/city, to have oversight and responsibility for local development and community-related funding in their area.
LCDCs will comprise of a maximum of 15 members and the local authorities will be inviting key state agencies and other partners to participate on LCDCs. There will be wide representation on the committee from the local government sector, state agencies, local and community development, and social, economic and community interests.
LCDCs will have a key function of achieving a more strategic, joined-up approach to local and community development within South Dublin County. Each LCDC will develop a County/City Local and Community Plan, to encompass State-funded local and community development interventions in its area.
The intention is to have the maximum level of publicly-funded programmes under the oversight of LCDCs. The County Local Economic and Community, Plan will therefore set out an integrated approach to local authority community development programmes, local development programmes funded by the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government (DECLG) and those funded by other Departments.
10 local authority areas have been selected as ‘Frontrunner’ LCDCs. These include South Dublin County Council, Dublin City Council, Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown, Leitrim, Roscommon, Mayo, Galway County, Offaly, Limerick and Cork County. The purpose of the ‘front-runners’ is to explore and pilot approaches to LCDC operation and to capture learning to inform the full roll-out of LCDCs across all local authority areas in 2014.
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The South Dublin County LCDC membership comprises representatives from the following:
South Dublin County Council
Health Services Executive
Education and Training Board
Department of Social Protection
County Enterprise Office
South Dublin County Local Development Company
South Dublin Chamber of Commerce
Community Forum and Platform
Crosscare Youth Services
Community Representatives
Ms Anna Lee, CEO of the South Dublin County Partnership who was elected as Chairperson of the Committee at its inaugural meeting said that “the work of the LCDCs will be very much underpinned by collaborative working at local and central government level, to support the streamlining of local development structures and ensure more targeted resource allocation and sustainable funding arrangements for South Dublin County”
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