3.25 In light of the above, responses to the templates regarding the effectiveness of partnership working give some cause for concern. Where partnerships involved substantial expenditure or the delivery of key policies, such as Sure Start, robust monitoring and evaluation procedures appeared to be in place, though these did not always consider the cost effectiveness of the partnership approach. As with all PEACE II implementing bodies, LSPs performance are the subject of evaluation as part of the Mid Term Evaluation of the PEACE II programme.
3.26 However, for the larger number of partnerships, the responses provided little evidence that sufficient monitoring or evaluation procedures are in place to determine the impact and effectiveness of the partnership, nor to measure the cost effectiveness and added value of the approach. Evaluation should be a fundamental part of policy development and service delivery. However, despite the considerable sums of public monies and official time involved, it is a tool which has not been consistently and routinely applied to partnership working in Northern Ireland. This reflects both experience elsewhere and is perhaps indicative of a general perception that partnership is always a 'good thing'. Nevertheless, partnership working is acknowledged to be expensive and resource consuming. Given Government's commitment to ensure greater efficiency in the use of public resources, it may be difficult to justify the partnership approach unless effective evaluation is built into the process. Any evaluation process should be commensurate with both the costs and extent of the partnership relationship.