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Local authorities in partnership trap

Thursday, 15 May 2008

State-run partnership programmes for local authorities often miss the point, a study claims.

The government risks creating so many partnership programmes among local authorities that the real benefits of collaboration — co-ordination, simplification, and more voice and influence - become undermined.

In a new analysis of the growing trend towards collaboration, The Work Foundation warns that while there is a strong theoretical case for cities to work with each other and with other organisations on some economic development issues — and some practical examples of success - goals need to be firmly set, priorities managed and the right leadership structures put in place.

Fruitless competition

Fruitless competition between neighbours wastes resources, but so too does poorly planned collaboration, the report argues.

"Collaboration has become such a popular solution to so many different policy challenges that it risks becoming seen as an end in itself rather than a means for delivering better economic outcomes," it says.

Programmes running or being proposed include Local Strategic Partnerships to coordinate service delivery, City Strategy Pathfinders to tackle worklessness, Multi-Area Agreements to help neighbouring local authorities work together on economic development, and New Partnerships for Innovation to increase innovation.

"All too often, the gaps between different central government policies are being played out at a local level too," comments report co-author Alexandra Jones.

These programmes come on top of existing city-to-city initiatives. For example, Glasgow and Edinburgh have cast aside their historic rivalry to form a successful partnership designed to make the most of their collective assets.

Lots of frustrating meetings

Jones adds that collaboration is not always the answer and makes sense only when working together will achieve more benefits than any one party could acting alone.

"At its best, collaboration helps places to thrive, is built on clear evidence and is part of an overall economic development strategy for the area and region. At its worst, collaboration is time-consuming, costly, and creates lots of frustrating meetings. Teaming up with someone else does not necessarily address poor performance," she warns.

Successful collaborations are becoming more important in a more ‘knowledge-based’ economy. Firms in fast-growing knowledge-based sectors tend to cluster in urban areas, while knowledge workers themselves tend to travel further to work, across administrative boundaries.

This acts as an incentive for local authorities to work with each other and with relevant agencies to coordinate transport, housing and skills policies, avoiding duplication of effort.

Success depends on objectives

The report finds that collaboration is a process rather than an outcome. Successful collaborations can achieve some combination of strategic coordination, greater trust, more voice and influence, joint funding, and greater capacity.

Regional Cities East, for example, has involved Norwich, Peterborough and other cities in the East of England working together to increase influence and voice for medium-sized cities.

Leeds City Region involves 11 local authorities working across a travel to work area on transport, housing and other issues, but no outcome is inevitable. Success depends on the objectives and the structuring of the partnership.

Collaborations which work best for delivering innovation are likely to be ‘cross-sectoral partnerships’ where different kinds of organisation can learn from each other — for example, where local authorities team up with business and universities (for example, Manchester Knowledge Capital and York Science City).

Knowledge intensive industries

All new collaborations for economic development should include an evidence-based focus on the ‘knowledge economy’ as part of their overall economic development and regeneration strategies because knowledge intensive industries bring most growth and productivity benefits.

Regeneration strategies designed to foster more ‘knowledge economy’ activity need to include skills, housing and transport policies — all key issues for knowledge workers.

The report concludes that policy on collaborations for economic development needs to be more joined up. Proposals on collaboration in the Sub National Review consultation and the New Partnerships Innovation guidance must be coordinated to maximise the impact of regeneration, economic development and innovation strategies.

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