Integrated Development Planning (IDP) in South Africa

How to Prepare Development Strategies, Part B

Part A

PLANNING ACTIVITY: 2/3 E
LOCALISED INSTITUTIONAL STRATEGIC GUIDELINES

Purpose WHY?	To ensure that IDP strategies address the institutional deficiencies and constraints which are affecting service delivery, rather than focusing only on physical investment projects.
Minimum Output Requirements WHAT?	A concise document (3 - 5 pages) that includes a problem statement related to the existing forms and management of service delivery in the municipality; and guidelines for managerial reform and selection of appropriate forms of service delivery which are considering the specific situation in the municipality.
Legislation/Policy Documents WHERE TO LOOK?	White Paper on Local Government, Section F
Relevant Guidelines / Principles NATIONAL INPUT	Municipalities are supposed to develop delivery capacities for accessible, affordable, basic needs orientated, integrated, sustainable and efficient quality services on an accountable basis. This can be done in two different ways (A) Initiating a managerial reform aiming at objectives-and results orientated management effectiveness-and efficiency orientated management ("value for money"); and service-and client orientated management, based on management tools like performance-based contracts service orientated codes of conduct deconcentration of operational responsibility by giving more power and skills to the frontline workers; and consultative decision-making approaches within the administration. (B) Selection of appropriate forms of service delivery under systematic consideration of options like corporatisation, public-public partnerships, public-community partnerships, contracting out, lease and concessions, privatisation.
The Nature of Localised Strategic Guidelines LOCAL OUTPUT	Localised institutional strategic guidelines should outline which managerial reform approaches and which forms of service delivery should be envisaged in which fields of service provision, taking into account the specific conditions in the municipal area. They should refer to specific institutional transformation or management reform projects which may refer to municipal administration as a whole or to selected aspects of the service system (like rate payment system); and the institutional or organisational dimension of other projects.

top

PLANNING ACTIVITY: 2/4
DEFINING RESOURCE FRAMES AND DESIGNING FINANCIAL STRATEGIES

Purpose WHY?	To define strategies for each issue in a realistic way by considering external and internal financial resources, as well as natural and human resources available/accessible for each priority issue, and by taking resource limitations into account. To increase the available financial resources by making use of creative and innovative solutions for coping with financial resource constraints.
Minimum Output Requirements w/r to Output WHAT?	To get more benefit out of given internal resources by managing them in a more strategic and innovative way. A well-informed guess on accessible financial, professional/human/ institutional and natural resources for each objective. A financial strategy of the municipality which defines ways and means of increasing revenues and external funding for the municipality in general as well as for each priority issue/objective. This strategy may include: revenue raising strategies; asset management strategies (e.g. restructuring of assets); financial management strategies (procedures); capital financing strategies (e.g. loan finance, grants); operational financing strategies (e.g. partnerships); and cost-effectiveness (e.g. cost-cutting, outsourcing).
w/r to Process	None
Hints for Structuring the Process HOW?	(1) After defining the objectives, investigation is required into the amount of financial, human/institutional and natural resources which can be made accessible for implementing activities related to these objectives (under consideration of the overall resource analysis done in Phase 1) (2) Preliminary decisions should be made by the municipality on the share of internal resources to be allocated to the different priority issues/objectives (3) Informing the various strategy debates and workshops on expected resource limitations (4) Proposals for a financial strategy should be made and analysed by taking into account local knowledge and ideas as well as the knowledge and experience of external specialists. Therefore, this planning activity should be done in two steps at local and thereafter, at district-level Local level: Creation of alternative financial strategies by the financial management committee District level: The alternatives identified at local level are brought forward to the district-level development strategy workshop for municipal finance, and additional alternatives are added by the participants of that workshop before being analysed Local level: Decision on an appropriate strategy mix (5) Adjustment of the allocations made in step 2 while considering the estimated amounts from additional revenue sources.
Suggested Institutional Arrangements / Responsibilities WHO?	Compilation of relevant information is desk work to be done by officials The municipal finance committee assisted by competent financial planners (treasurers) should formulate alternative financial strategies to be presented to the IDP Representative Forum under the leadership of the "Councillor Responsible for Financial Matters".
Time Requirement (tentative) Defining a preliminary resource frame:2 weeks Designing a financial strategy:4 weeks (parallel to strategy workshops ) Revising the re- source frame accor- dingly: 2 weeks	Note: Defining resource frames and designing financial strategies are two processes which inform each other mutually. Financial strategies are responses to identified resource limitations and they result in an expansion of the resource frame! Facilitators to stimulate creative thinking by asking challenging questions and by challenging predetermined standard solutions.

top

PLANNING ACTIVITY: 2/5
CREATING ALTERNATIVES

Purpose WHY?	To ensure municipalities make use of new, creative and innovative solutions for coping with problems and new challenges. This is especially relevant, if conventional approaches are too costly, inappropriate or unsustainable.
Minimum Output Requirements w/r to Output WHAT?	A broad range of realistic alternatives for each Priority Issue.
w/r to Process	A creative process of searching for alternatives takes place. Competent resource persons are to be involved in that process.
Hints for Structuring the Process HOW?	The identification of alternatives has to take into account local knowledge and ideas as well as the knowledge and experience of external specialists. Therefore, this planning activity should be done in two steps at local and, thereafter, at district-level. This results in the following sequence of steps Local level Creation of alternatives for each local Priority Issue in the IDP Representative Forum with incorporation of people affected and local resource persons. District level The alternatives identified at local level are brought forward to the district-level development strategy workshop for the priority issue, and additional alternatives are added by the participants of that workshop. The various alternatives presented by local municipalities and those additional alternatives added at district-level are refined before being analysed. At both levels creation of alternatives needs a workshop or working group session per Priority Issue in order to Provide specialist information on alternative ways and means Stimulate a creative brainstorming process on alternatives Clarify and specify proposed alternatives in a way, which gives everybody a clear picture of what is proposed.
Suggested Institutional Arrangements / Responsibilities WHO?	Local municipalities Sessions for creating alternatives should be held in the IDP Representative Forum, in order to Go sufficiently prepared to the district-level strategy workshop Stimulate a local-level public debate on the various alternatives. District-level Experienced resource persons and subject matter specialists (including national and provincial level, NGOs, research institutions) shall be invited to the Development Strategy Workshop.
Time Requirement (tentative) Time frame for debate on various levels: 1 month	Note Involve external know-how, local know-how, practitioners' knowhow Facilitators to stimulate creative thinking by asking challenging questions and by challenging pre-determined standard solutions In case there are prescribed standards from national or provincial departments which are inappropriate or not affordable, District level workshops should be used to initiate a debate on modification or adaptation of such standards.

top

PLANNING ACTIVITY: 2/6
CREATING CONDITIONS FOR PUBLIC DEBATE ON ALTERNATIVES

Purpose WHY?	To contribute to realistic solutions, to the ownership of intended beneficiaries and to a transparent and acceptable resolution of conflicts.
Minimum Output Requirements w/r to Output WHAT?	Members of the IDP Representative Forum, of concerned communities or stakeholder groups and local media are informed on the issues to be decided on, and on the decision-making procedures (including time schedule).
w/r to Process	The municipality's responsibility is to create conditions for a debate, but not necessarily to stimulate, organise or facilitate the debate.
Hints for Structuring the Process HOW?	The meeting of the IDP Representative Forum, in which strategic alternatives are created, should be used to agree with the members on procedures and responsibilities for a public debate. These procedures and responsibilities may differ considerably by issue Some means of stimulating debate are involvement of local media, or public hearings. The proposals, concerns and conflicts arising from the public debate should be taken up by the alternatives analysis and decision-making processes of the IDP Representative Forum and the district strategy workshops.
Suggested Institutional Arrangements / Responsibilities WHO?	The IDP Steering Committee has to compile the necessary information for the public It's up to the members of the IDP Representative Forum to stimulate debates among the groups or communities they represent Local resource persons should be involved and play a crucial role in such public debates.
Time Requirement (tentative) Time frame of 1 month	Note Relevance and nature of public debates on strategies differ largely by issue according to people's competence and the degree to which they are concerned. Not all people feel equally competent and concerned to participate in debates on a certain issue. In many cases an active involvement in the debate may be limited to few stakeholder organisations, while the broader public may be happy with following the debate through the media.

top

PLANNING ACTIVITY: 2/8
ANALYSING ALTERNATIVES

Purpose WHY?	To contribute to effective utilisation of limited municipal resources to the benefit of the people affected and in line with development policy principles. Analysing alternatives systematically helps to arrive at principle-led rational choices.
Minimum Output Requirements w/r to Output WHAT?	Information on the expected impact (advantages/disadvantages) of the identified alternatives under consideration of various criteria.
w/r to Process	Involvement of a representative range of role-players from different levels and fields (representing economic, environmental, social, gender, spatial, institutional concerns and the concerns of intended beneficiary groups) in order to make sure that all crucial aspects are considered in the analysis.
Hints for Structuring the Process HOW?	The identified and refined alternatives for each priority issue have to be listed. In doing so, one should make sure that each alternative is phrased in a sufficiently concrete way to enable comparison and analysis While a broad debate on the advantages and disadvantages of each alternative should be encouraged, professionals should start compiling information on the various effects of the alternatives Criteria for comparative analysis should be agreed on Finally, the alternatives should be analysed against each of the criteria taking into consideration the results of information provided by specialists and insights gained from public debates.
Suggested Institutional Arrangements / Responsibilities WHO?	Local level A public debate on the alternatives should be stimulated through the IDP Representative Forum. In cases of strong public interest, the media may be involved, and hearings with experts may be organised. Technicians and specialists in charge should be asked to provide the necessary information on expected costs and benefits. For locally specific issues, the final analysis should be done at local level District level For all DC issues and for issues which apply in a similar way to several local municipalities, the final assessment of alternatives should be done as part of district-wide strategy workshops in order to ensure the involvement of national and provincial specialists and other professional resources.
Time Requirement (tentative) A time frame of 1 month should be given for discussion and analysis of alternatives.	Note Analysing alternatives can be done in two ways: By open, unstructured public debates on pros and cons, and by a systematic comparison based on criteria and facts. For some issues public debates may be more appropriate, for others less so. In any case, the municipality should create conditions for a public debate. At the end, the results from both approaches should be combined by feeding the outcomes of the open discussion process into the systematic criteria-based analysis.

top

PLANNING ACTIVITY: 2/9
DECIDING ON AN ALTERNATIVE/DESIGNING THE STRATEGY

Purpose WHY?	To provide clear direction for project planning and implementation.
Minimum Output Requirements w/r to Output WHAT?	Municipal development strategies for each Priority Issue, which are in line with national and sectoral plans and planning requirements. These strategies should indicate the ways by which the objectives shall be achieved with given resources. List of identified projects.
w/r to Process	Like the analysis of alternatives, the decision on the strategy has to be done by a representative group of role-players under consideration of all dimensions.
Hints for Structuring the Process HOW?	Decision-making process: Strategy decisions should be based on criteria and on a systematic assessment process, rather than on a majority vote. Such a criteria based discussion and negotiation process can help to convince people to find common ground and sound compromises. Consequently, sufficient time should be given for such a criteria- and information-related debate, before workshop participants decide on a strategy. There are arrange of tools for criteria-related decision-making (see Vol. IV) Decisions on strategies related to DC Priority Issues and for cross-boundary issues should be made at the end of the district-wide development strategy workshop Decisions on strategies related to locally specific issues should be made at local municipality level by the IDP Representative Forum. They may be informed by the district-level alternative analysis process as far as the results of this analysis are applicable to the local conditions.
Hints for Designing the Output	Phrasing of a development strategy : Strategy statements should include the objective(s) to which the strategy wants to contribute ways and means by which the objectives shall be achieved under consideration of problem causing factors a clear description of the major fields of intervention; and a list of projects.Strategies should be characterised/labelled by being given a heading.
Suggested Institutional Arrangements / Responsibilities WHO?	District level: Development Strategy Workshop Local level: IDP Representative Forum.
Time Requirement (tentative) No specific time requirements. Decision on development strategies should follow strict dead- lines to avoid end- less discussion- processes.	Note It is crucial to distinguish between strategic decisions which apply in the same way to several municipalities and which need a discussion process with provincial or even national agencies (e.g. service-standards), and strategic decisions which require location specific answers (like economic strategies related to location specific resources). The aforementioned should be made at district-level, the latter at local level.

Part A

More about the Roles and Responsibilities of District and Local Municipalities, Planning Approach and Methodology, and Public Participation in the IDP approach

top

 More of...

 case studies

Latin America
Africa
Asia
Europe /
North America