Local Economic and Community Plans LECP | Guidelines 2021
An Integrated process The Act requires that the economic elements of the LECP be developed by the Local Authority/ SPC for Economic Development and Enterprise (66B(5)(b)) while the Local Community Development Committees (LCDCs) develop the community elements of the LECP (66B(5) (c)). After completing the process outlined in the Act regarding both Economic and Community elements (66C) an integrated plan will be presented to the Council for approval (66C(4)(a)). Each LECP must be consistent with the Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy (RSES) and the core strategy and objectives of City/County Development Plan. In addition, the LECP should also have regard to other relevant Government policy initiatives (see Appendix 6). LECPs will be developed and implemented within an evolving national, regional and local policy context and an Implementation Plan process is suggested to enable the necessary flexibility to accommodate the evolution of policy. Local Authorities, supported by the Department, should endeavour to ensure that all relevant policies are reflected in the development and ongoing implementation and review of the Framework LECP. The mains features of the overall Framework LECP will be a set of High Levels Goals for the integrated plan which will be supported by specific Sustainable Objectives under the respective economic and community streams. Each objective will in turn consider potential outcomes and high level indicators for the 6 year planning period period. Achievement of these outcomes will be supported by an Implementation Plan process that will outline the specific, time-bound and measurable actions to be delivered in that period based on evidence-based prioritisation and taking into consideration the resources available in that plan period . It is recognised that certain objectives may arise in both the economic and the community elements. However, the particular actions required to achieve these objectives should be provided for under each of the two streams, with responsibility for oversight of specific actions being assigned either to the Local Authority/SPC or to the LCDC as appropriate
Integration between economic and community elements is primarily likely to arise in relation to the overall process and shared information base, as well as for particular target areas such as jobs, skills and labour market access. Where direct integration is not appropriate, it will be necessary to ensure adequate co-ordination between the two elements and this will be the primary function of the LECP Advisory Group (see section C). LECP Development Stages The process for the development of the LECPs will initially consist of four broad phases: preparation, public consultation, development of High-Level Goals, objectives and outcomes, and finalisation of the LECP. This will be followed by a fifth phase for implementation that will include the Implementation Plan process and a sixth stage of monitoring, evaluation and review of the plan. The approach to the public consultation phase will need to take into account different stakeholder needs across both the economic and community sectors. A flow chart outlining the key steps is provided below. Where a Local Authority has commenced work on the LECP, this should be built on and aligned to the next phase of the LECP development process set out below. Particular note should be taken of the need to establish clear and evidence based objectives and outcomes in Phase 3 (development of objectives and outcomes stage) as these will form the basis for the Implementation Plan process outlined in stage 5. This will, in turn be linked to implementing actions and providing the information for the monitoring and evaluation required in stage 6 (monitoring and evaluation stage). A preliminary (pre-preparation) step is the establishment of an appropriately constituted Advisory Steering Group. (see section on Advisory Steering Group on page 28).
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