2.23 The partnership approach is well established in the Republic of Ireland and there are a large number of examples of cross-sectoral collaboration in the Republic. The most prominent is perhaps the national 'social partnership' programmes which have been implemented since the late 1980s. This partnership approach has played an important part in Ireland's economic and social development, although the extent of the contribution has been questioned.
2.24 Of particular interest, given the recent debate in NI regarding the future role of Local Strategy Partnerships (LSPs), are the County and City Development Boards, the Republic's equivalent of LSPs. In 2000, County and City Development Boards were established in each county and county borough. The boards are representative of local government, local development bodies (area partnerships, LEADER groups, and county and city enterprise boards), the state agencies and social partners operating locally. They have drawn up plans and will oversee the implementation of county/city strategies for economic, social and cultural development which will act as a template guiding all public services and local development activities.
2.25 In January 2002 a comprehensive review of partnerships in the RoI civil service12 identified a number of impediments to the development of partnership, for example:
• Many see partnership as 'another imposed initiative' that they are required to implement.
• The partners see partnership as a separate system operating in parallel with the management system, the change management process, the trade union structures and the industrial relations system. This lack of integration inhibits its effectiveness and exacerbates perceptions of low identity and low relevance.
• The absence of a central body with specific responsibility for leading and promoting partnership militates against its ongoing development and sends conflicting signals to the broader civil service regarding the intentions of the partners at central level.
2.26 In Great Britain partnership work is well established in the areas of regeneration, health, education and lifelong learning, tackling crime and disorder, and sustainable development. The obvious comparison with Northern Ireland, would appear to be the Local Strategic Partnerships in England and Wales13. However, these are fundamentally different and have a much wider role than LSPs in Northern Ireland. Local Strategic Partnerships in England and Wales bring together at the local level different parts of the public sector along with private, business, community and voluntary sectors so that different initiatives and services support each other and work together. Importantly they are non-statutory and non-executive, and they do not provide services themselves.
2.27 The Local Government Act 2000 requires local authorities in England and Wales to prepare a community strategy to improve the economic, social and environmental well being of their areas and their inhabitants. Although the statutory duty for preparing the strategy rests with local authorities, their development and implementation requires successful joint working across the public, private, community and voluntary sectors. This puts Local Strategic Partnerships at the centre of the community planning process.
2.28 Another key task for the Local Strategic Partnerships is to explore ways in which the number of separate partnerships are reduced, to improve the links between existing local partnerships, and to integrate new work into the strategic partnership. In short, there is recognition that the same key stakeholders are involved in several partnerships and there is a need to rationalize and simplify existing and potentially new partnership arrangements. Local Strategic Partnerships provide a forum to agree both national and local priorities and decide how best to deliver them.
2.29 In 2004, the Scottish Executive published a report into partnership working in Scotland14. The main focus of the work was to understand better how the Scottish Executive operated as a partner and to determine how relationships could be enhanced and improved. In total, 65 individuals participated in the study, and a number of suggestions for improved partnership working were put forward as outlined below:
• Earlier engagement and continuous dialogue with partners
• Opportunities for input at strategic level
• Clarity of purpose and roles
• Building in review and evaluation
• Widening access and building capacity
• Embedding and developing a culture of involvement
• A strategic commitment to partnership working
• A shared responsibility
2.30 In January 2002 the Welsh Assembly commissioned a report into Partnerships between the public, private and voluntary sectors in Wales.15 The report drew on 140 interviews with key national figures and individual members of partnerships across ten case studies, as well as detailed partnership mapping at national and local levels. Recommending a comprehensive programme of action, the report identified four main tensions or problems which impacted on the effectiveness of partnership:
• Partners had conflicting expectations;
• There was little agreement about the division of labour between partner organisations;
• The complex map of partnerships makes it difficult for anyone to understand the powers and responsibilities of any one partnership; and
• There is a tendency for partnerships to be short lived and poorly resourced.
2.31 Local partnerships are also important in the European context particularly in EU-funded programmes (such as LEADER, URBAN and PEACE already referred to) but also national programmes aimed at tackling unemployment, poverty and social exclusion.
2.32 Despite the variability, research studies on local partnerships in 10 EU Member States reached a number of important conclusions about the value of partnerships and their impact. These can be summarized as follows:
• Local partnerships can contribute positively to both the processes and outcomes of measures to tackle unemployment, poverty and exclusion.
• They can lead to better policy co-ordination and integration at local level.
• This facilitates a multi-dimensional approach to problems, drawing upon the knowledge, skills and resources of different partners.
• Because their focus may be on a specific local area, such as a deprived urban neighbourhood, they may not tackle more dispersed problems of exclusion.16
2.33 The evidence would, therefore suggest that the main rationale for partnership working in Ireland, GB and Europe is to ensure better co-ordination and fit and better targeting of need in the delivery of services and the development of policies and programmes.
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12 O'Dwyer et al, A Formal Review of Partnership in the Civil Service, Report to General Council of the Civil Service, Department of the Taoiseach, January 2002
13 This section draws extensively on the following - Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (2001) Local Strategic Partnerships - Government Guidance. London: DETR.
14 Strategy Unit, Partnership Working, Scottish Executive, Edinburgh 2004
15 Centre for Local Government Research, Partnerships between the public, private and voluntary sectors in Wales. Final report to the Welsh Assembly Government Steering Group. Cardiff University, May 2003
16 This is a summary of the key findings from Geddes, M. (1998) Local Partnership: A Successful Strategy for Social Cohesion? Dublin: European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and