What does 'capacity building' mean?
In its review of the Yorkshire and Humber Local Government Improvement and Innovation Partnership and its pilot activities, the Policy Research Institute at Leeds Metropolitan University defined capacity building as follows:
‘In institutional terms, capacity building refers to the ability of an organisation to operate efficiently and deliver effectively, while evolving to meet new demands and external challenges. To achieve this, an organisation must have the necessary resources, skills, knowledge and competence’.
The Office of Public Management has defined that:
'the capacity of local authorities to improve is determined primarily by having the right people with the right knowledge, skills and behaviours in sufficient numbers deployed appropriately’.
Within these definitions, in Yorkshire and Humber, capacity building activities have enabled Local Authorities, Fire and Rescue Services and partners to turn strategy into operational reality and make tangible difference in delivering real improvements to the lives of citizens living and working in our region.