84 Commentators have placed much emphasis on the necessity of establishing trust and goodwill between partner organisations. There is no doubt that closer working relationships can generate better understanding of partners' objectives, greater openness in sharing knowledge and information and more trust. These in turn can generate tangible benefits, such as:
• joint resourcing of partnerships through financial contributions, staff secondments, facilities, services, joint posts and training, and some pooling of resources;
• joint community consultation strategies;
• increased flexibility towards the different needs of different partners; and
• joint working, mutual support and devolved decision making, along with the need for clear succession planning.
Case study 5 At Plymouth City Council, the leadership has endorsed a growing culture of inter-agency working, extending beyond the work of specific partnerships. For example, the Council has contributed resources to develop the Plymouth 2020 partnership Plymouth Informed website. This provides a range of information about the city, including statistics, the provision of local services and the strategies and plans of partners. Members of the public and any interested organisation can access the site at: http://www.plymouth-informed.org.uk. Source: Audit Commission, Working in Partnership through Plymouth 2020, 2004 |
85 But cultural differences and tensions - real or perceived - remain a barrier to effective partnership working. Difficulties may arise because of:
• different management cultures;
• failure to use the skills and experience of partner organisations and partnerships effectively and to develop them to best effect;
• poor communication and information sharing; and
• uneven levels of support from partners.
86 Funding is another factor that has affected the culture of collaborative working - the main factor determining some organisations' involvement in partnerships has been the availability of funding. Some partnerships have experienced deteriorating relationships between the partners because of damaging disagreements about how they should allocate the funding streams.