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Effective and strategic partnership working
There are four key types of partnership:
- Service delivery partnerships – these are frontline staff networks aimed at improving on the ground service delivery through co-ordination of the work of two or more agencies (such as groups set up to discuss and deal with priority and prolific offenders)
- Learning and best practice partnerships – these are groups of similar agencies working in a town, city or region who come together to share best practice and to provide peer support and learning (such as local day centre networks)
- Influencing and strategic partnerships – these are partnerships with organisations with funding, strategic or statutory responsibilities which affect your clients (such as local homelessness forums set up to design and deliver the local authority homelessness strategy)
- Consortia – groups of sector organisations approaching public sector agencies as voluntary sector networks to lobby or deliver contracted-out services
Effective partnership working can mean the difference between scrabbling around for funding, and being an organisation that people think of when they have money or contracts up for grabs. Learning partnerships can also be a cost-effective way of sharing knowledge, information and great working practices. Insular organisations which fail to learn from others and work in partnership find their circle of influence getting steadily smaller and miss out on opportunities which others create through effective partnerships. One of the key factors for working in partnerships which deliver is about understanding what each partner can bring to the table – partnerships without clear goals and purpose are not an effective use of scarce time and resources.
What does success look like?
The Urban Exchange is an excellent example of services working together effectively in partnership under one roof, creating a city centre resource for young people in Preston. A number of agencies working with young people recognised the need to work more closely together, and decided to deliver services under one roof. The partners in the project are Barnardo’s North West Homeless Project, Talkwize (family planning and sexual health service), C-Wize (Chlamydia Screening Programme), Drugline Lancashire Ltd., SMILE substance misuse service, Connexions, Talk counselling service, Lancashire County Council After Care and youth services. A great deal of work was done over the two years since the centre opened to ensure that the organisations developed common working practices. Successful partnership bids to the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund, Single Regeneration Budget and Lancashire Children’s Fund covered all capital costs and most of the revenue costs for the first two years of operation.
A Partnership group was set up to oversee the physical development of the centre. Joint training, visioning, goal setting and knowledge about what each partner can offer were vital to the success of the partnership. The Partnership group and co-location has enabled organisations to learn from each other and develop new services together, and act as an effective and coherent voice on behalf of young people in the city.
What factors inhibit agencies from working in partnership?
- Lack of understanding of the benefits of partnership working
- Lack of resources (time/staff) to create effective links
- Previous bad experiences of ineffective partnership working
- Fears over loss of confidentiality
- Power inequities between partners
- Lack of vision and/or goals for the partnership
- Fear that action and follow up will not be shared equitably
What can agencies do?
- Map existing partnerships in the local area and assess which, if any, they should currently be involved in
- Revisit existing partnership and consortia arrangements which are not working effectively – if the local homelessness forum is a talking shop, work with partners to clarify the goal, purpose, objectives and activities of the group
- Revisit the aims and activities of the agency – can any of these be delivered more effectively in partnership?
- Speak to other local agencies who are well connected about the benefits for their agency
- Have a clear vision of how the partnership will function and what purpose it will fulfil with written guidelines for partners
What Homeless Link can offer now:
- Regional learning networks co-ordinated by our Regional Team
- Local knowledge about existing partnerships and consortia and opportunities for future working
- Information on funding streams
- The Health Inclusion Project aims to produce a briefing this autumn to improve partnership working between the voluntary and health sectors
- The Move On Plans Protocol (MOPP) Project aims to improve partnership working to develop move on strategies for people living in hostels
Potential future Homeless Link projects:
- Peer support network meetings for specific projects (for example, arts projects)
- Spotlight events on partnership working
- One day courses on gaining influence within partnerships
- Conferences on Partnership working
- A ‘How to’ guide on delivering services under one roof
- A ‘How to’ guide on developing bidding consortia
- Training on setting up a partnership
- Training on troubleshooting within partnerships
- Partnership facilitation consultancy
- Advice on setting up Service Level Agreements
- Training on getting the best out of your MP and local Councillors
What partner organisations offer:
- Crisis have developed briefings for PCTs and Local Housing Authorities on improving partnership working on health for homeless people
- Space East provide specialist support for homelessness agencies in the East of England region
- Shekinah Mission in Plymouth work in a consortia to deliver qualifications to homeless people
- Hostels Liaison Group is an infrastructure organisation providing information, advice, training and advocacy for over 100 voluntary sector projects working with homeless and other vulnerable people across Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. HLG also provides services for homeless people in Nottingham through its outreach mental health support service, resettlement service and accommodation access scheme
- The Pan London Provider’s Forum undertakes research on a consortium basis