Our Work

Our Commissioning Approach

Commissioning is about providing the right services to meet the needs of local people through making the best use of available resources.  In 2010 Solihull launched the Common Commissioning Framework which sets out a clear framework for commissioning in Solihull between partner organisations.  It provides a consistent approach to planning, providing and reviewing services.   

In 2011 we undertook a refresh of our Sustainable Community Strategy to look at our priorities moving forward in relation to the vision for the borough; Solihull in 2018: where everyone has an equal chance to be healthier, happier, safer, and prosperous.  The focus of the review was to identify those priorities that require a step change in improvement to make a difference in narrowing the inequality gap experienced by some within the Solihull Borough. 

The following 11 priority outcomes were identified through an evidence-led assessment of need as well as involvement from a wide range of stakeholders, including Elected Members, community representatives through the Partnership Forums and an online survey.  These priorities underpin our partnership commissioning intentions for the future.

Performance Management

Each priority has an identified lead officer who is responsible for ensuring the commissioning arrangements are in place to secure effective policies, strategies and services to deliver a significant improvement in outcomes for these priorities. 

The priority leads meet regularly to share progress and identify opportunities for joint commissioning and engagement.  In the last twelve months this group has also led the development of our performance framework in relation to the 11 priority outcomes.  This includes the development of a 'Narrowing the Gap' scorecard. 

Narrowing the Gap Scorecard

To assess the impact of Partnership activity in narrowing the gap of inequalities in Solihull, the Governing Board agreed in April 2011 that a partnership scorecard should be developed to that included key measures for all the eleven partnership priority outcomes.  The focus of the scorecard is to support the impact of strategies to deliver faster rates of improvements between the most vulnerable and disadvantaged within the Borough and the majority.

This scorecard developed through the Solihull Observatory is a real step forward for us in how we present information on the impact of our work. The scorecard utilises a range of graphical mapping technology to enable anyone to review the impact on a wide number of outcomes interactively. 

The 'Narrowing the Gap' scorecard update is reported to the Governing Board on a 6 monthly cycle. 

Key Projects

The Solihull Partnership Governing Board as well as providing overall stewardship for the 11 partnership priority outcomes, has also within its own work programme identified four key areas.  Information on these can be found on the Governing Board page.