Partnership Improvement Programme

Submitted by Jo Pearce on Tue, 10/06/2009 - 09:46

The Partnership Improvement Programme (PIP) is designed to improve cross-sector partnership working between local authorities, other public sector bodies and local voluntary and community organisations (VCOs). This programme builds on the 2005/06 pilot, developed and delivered in collaboration with the Local Government Improvement and Development (formerly the I&DeA).

The programme is currently being delivered region by region, working within five local authority areas per region with an opportunity for other authorities to attend a dissemination event at the end to share the learning.

Objectives

The three principal objectives for the programme are:

  • To build trust and mutual understanding across sectoral divides.
  • To enable senior staff in local government, other public. agencies and the voluntary and community sector (VCS) to take the lead in responding to the challenges of working across public sector/VCS boundaries and in public sector/VCS partnerships.
  • To develop local improvement plans for more effective engagement and partnership working across sectoral divides.

Areas covered by the programme

The programme comprises five half day sessions for mixed groups of senior officers and practitioners from public agencies and the VCS, all held in local venues. Sessions are coordinated by two facilitators from IVAR; they work with programme participants through a series of exercises, presentations and debates to develop a shared understanding of: 

  • Participants’ experiences of local cross-sector partnership working.
  • National policy context and local drivers of cross-sector partnership working.
  • Barriers and obstacles to effective cross-sector partnership working.
  • Benefits of cross-sector partnership working.
  • Specific local challenges to improving cross-sector partnership working (including conflicts and tensions).
  • Local action to address those challenges and improve cross-sector partnership working.

PIP participants are encouraged to model effective cross-sector working in their own discussions by focusing on points of commonality rather than difference and by thinking about possible responses to difficulties identified. Local Partnership Improvement Action Plans are agreed at session four; session five takes place three to six months later and provides an opportunity to review implementation.    
 
Contact : Ben Cairns ben@ivar.org.uk 
 
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