• Effectiveness of Partnerships
Recommendation 1: All existing partnerships involving public sector partners should be reviewed by their parent department and necessary action taken to ensure that:
• they are appropriate;
• opportunities for rationalisation are identified where these are likely to result in more effective arrangements;
• all relevant bodies/partners are engaged;
• they have the necessary resources, structures, processes and personnel to maximise their potential effectiveness; and
• appropriate performance criteria, and monitoring and evaluation procedures are in place to enable a longer-term evaluation of their effectiveness.
Where appropriate departments may wish to consider the review of existing partnerships as part of the outworking of the decisions emerging from the RPA.
• Number of Partnerships and the Need for a Corporate Approach
Recommendation 2: A central unit should have the opportunity to review proposals for new partnerships emerging from departments. The Unit should:
• provide best practice advice to departments, establishing a clear set of principles for effective partnership working that could be utilised by departments;
• advise departments in light of best practice as to whether proposals gave partnerships the best chance of success; and
• where appropriate, identify opportunities to utilise existing arrangements.
The unit's role should be advisory, final decisions would be taken by the instigating department(s).
Recommendation 3: To provide a means of disseminating information, a detailed list of current partnerships in NI should be made available on-line and updated regularly.
• Future of Local Strategy Partnerships
Recommendation 4: The future role of LSPs should be revisited following the outcome of the RPANI.
4.15 Government in Northern Ireland remains committed to the principle of partnership working. However, recognising that partnership working is difficult, every effort must be taken to ensure that the benefits of partnership are realised and the risks avoided. Implementation of the recommendations outlined above will facilitate a more effective and corporate approach to partnership working on the part of NICS. However, it is essential that we recognise that any partnership is in essence a team. As with all teams, the potential success of a partnership is to a significant degree dependant upon the relationships and skills of the individual partners. In particular, the ability of all partners to agree and contribute to the realisation of a shared vision and goals.