Working Across Boundaries: Collaboration in Public Services

285 Pages·2002·0.72 MB·English

by  Helen Sullivan

Working Across
Boundaries
Collaboration in Public Services
Helen Sullivan and Chris Skelcher
The world of sub-central governance and administration – including local authorities,
quasi-governmental bodies and the agencies of public–private partnerships – has seen
massive changes in the United Kingdom and other western democracies. The original
aim of the Government Beyond the Centreseries was to bring the study of this often-
neglected world into the mainstream of social science research,applyingthe spotlight of
critical analysis to what had traditionally been the preserve of institutional public
administration approaches.
The replacement of traditional models of government by new models of governancehas
affected central government,too,with the contracting out of many traditional functions,
the increasing importance of relationships with devolved and supranational authorities,
and the emergence of new holistic models based on partnership and collaboration.
This series focuses on the agenda of change in governance both at sub-central level and
in the new patterns of relationships surrounding the core executive. Its objective is to
provide up-to-date and informative accounts of the new forms of management and
administration and the structures of power and influence that are emerging,and of the
economic,political and ideological forces that underlie them.
The series will be of interest to students and practitioners in central and local
government,public management and social policy,and all those interested in the reshap-
ing of the governmental institutions which have a daily and major impact on our lives.
Government Beyond the Centre
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Published
Richard Batley and Gerry Stoker (eds) Gerry Stoker (ed.)
Local Government in Europe The New Management of British Local
Governance
Sue Goss
Making Local Governance Work Gerry Stoker (ed.)
The New Politics of British Local
John Gyford Governance
Citizens,Consumers and Councils
Helen Sullivan and Chris Skelcher
Richard Kerley Working Across Boundaries
Managing in Local Government
David Wilson and Chris Game
Desmond King and Gerry Stoker (eds) Local Government in the United
Rethinking Local Democracy Kingdom(3rd edn)
Steve Leach,John Stewart and Perri 6,Diana Leat,Kimberly Seltzer and
Kieron Walsh Gerry Stoker
The Changing Organisation and Towards Holistic Governance
Management of Local Governance
Arthur Midwinter
Local Government in Scotland
Christopher Pollitt,Johnston Birchall and Forthcoming
Keith Putman
Stephen Cope
Decentralising Public Service
Local Government Finance in Britain
Management
Vivien Lowndes,Lawrence Pratchett and
Lawrence Pratchett and
Gerry Stoker
David Wilson (eds)
Democratic Renewal
Local Democracy and Local
Government Steve Martin
The Transformation of Public Services
John Stewart
The Nature of British Local Gerry Stoker
Government British Local Governance
John Stewart and Gerry Stoker (eds) Tony Travers and Mark Kleinman
Local Government in the 1990s Governing London
Working Across
Boundaries
Collaboration in Public Services
Helen Sullivan
and
Chris Skelcher
© Helen Sullivan and Chris Skelcher 2002
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ISBN 0–333–96150–1 hardback
ISBN 0–333–96151–x paperback
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sullivan,Helen (Helen C.)
Working across boundaries :collaboration in public services / Helen
Sullivan and Chris Skelcher.
p.cm.—(Government beyond the centre)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0–333–96150–1
1.Privatization—Great Britain.2.Public–private sector cooperation—
Great Britain.3.Privatization.4.Public–private sector cooperation.
I.Skelcher,Chris,1951–II.Title.III.Series.
HD4148 .S85 2002
361.2(cid:1)5(cid:1)068—dc21 2002022907
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02
Printed in Hong Kong
Contents
List of Tables,Figures and Boxes vii
List of Abbreviations ix
Preface xi
1 The Collaborative Agenda 1
Motivations for collaboration 2
Forms of collaboration 4
Factors influencing collaborative performance 7
Evaluating collaboration 8
The focus of the book 9
The argument and structure of the book 10
2 Collaboration and the State 14
The changing pattern of the state 15
Emerging forms of partnership 21
The arithmetic of partnerships 25
Conclusion 32
3 Understanding Collaboration 35
Drivers for collaboration 37
Forms of collaboration 41
Factors influencing the capacity and practice of collaboration 50
Collaboration and public policy 53
Conclusion 55
4 Collaboration on Cross-cutting Issues 56
Partnerships in urban policy 57
Partnerships for community safety 64
Joining up health and social care 71
Conclusion 77
5 Collaboration Across Sectors 80
Public–private collaboration 81
Public–voluntary sector collaboration 88
Vertical collaboration:multi-level governance in the 91
European context
Conclusion 96
v
vi Contents
6 Building Capacity for Collaboration 99
Individual capacity for collaboration 100
Organisational capacity for collaboration 105
Barriers to collaborative capacity 110
Realising collaborative capacity 112
Conclusion 116
7 The Dynamics of Collaboration 118
Paradigms of collaborative dynamics 119
The motivation of change 122
Conclusion 135
8 The Governance of Collaboration 137
The constitutional form of partnerships 138
The accountability of partnerships 149
Conclusion 159
9 Citizen Participation and Collaboration 162
Citizen participation and New Labour 163
Engaging citizens in collaboration 165
The impact of citizen participation in collaboration 181
Conclusion 184
10 Evaluating Collaboration 185
The logic of evaluation 186
Determining impact in collaborative endeavour 188
Stakeholder evaluation of collaboration 196
Evaluating collaborative mechanisms 203
Conclusion 205
11 Collaboration and Modernisation 208
The modernisation agenda 209
Collaboration and modernisation at the local level 212
Collaborative dilemmas 218
Theorising public policy collaboration 221
Conclusion 224
Appendix 1:Note on Sources and Research Method 226
Appendix 2:Number and Value of Multi-agency 228
Partnerships,2001/2002
References 238
Index 259
List of Tables, Figures and
Boxes
Tables
2.1 Key features of overloaded,hollowed-out and
congested states 17
2.2 A typology of partnerships 24
2.3 Original membership of Bradford HAZ
partnership board 29
2.4 Types of partnership in which local authorities
are involved 30
2.5 Partnerships in Nottingham 31
2.6 Organising principles for public services 33
3.1 Theories and approaches to collaboration 36
3.2 A model of symbiotic network development 44
3.3 Policy networks,policy communities and issue networks 47
4.1 Government initiatives for regeneration partnerships,
1977–2001 59
4.2 Forms of regeneration partnership 63
4.3 Contextual analysis of community care and the
Health Act flexibilities 76
5.1 Comparison between contracting-out and
long-term partnership 84
7.1 A partnership life-cycle model 123
7.2 Networking activity by a voluntary sector worker 126
8.1 Constitutional forms for partnerships – selected examples 140
8.2 The democratic deficit in regeneration partnerships 151
8.3 Corporate governance requirements for early years
and childcare development partnerships 153
9.1 Levels of collaboration and citizen participation 167
9.2 Factors influencing citizen involvement in collaborations 172
9.3 Strategies for engaging hard-to-reach groups 179
10.1 Assessing the role of communities in collaborations 199
vii
viii Tables,Figures and Boxes
10.2 Stages of partnership development – evaluation
frameworks 204
11.1 A framework for understanding public policy
collaboration 223
Figures
2.1 Basic patterns of democratic control in the 19
congested state
2.2 The interconnections of agencies and partnerships –
Northumberland’s strategic and specific partnerships 23
3.1 Forms of collaboration and rules of governance 43
4.1 Potential activities for community safety partnerships 69
7.1 Social process framework for understanding
collaborative dynamics 121
8.1 Potential membership of Camborne,Pool and
Redruth EAZ 142
8.2 Performance management and accountability in
Sure Start 155
8.3 Education action zones:funding streams and main
partnership linkages 160
10.1 Evaluation framework for national health action
zone initiative 194
10.2 Monitoring and evaluation pyramid 202
11.1 The collaborative agenda in the context of modernisation 210
11.2 Collaboration and modernisation in the local
governance system 213
Boxes
4.1 The development of collaboration on community safety 65
6.1 Required skills and attributes of reticulists 101
6.2 Individual roles in a collaboration 117
8.1 Birmingham City Council – examples of partnerships
constituted as companies 145
8.2 Sure Start’s aim and selected objectives,PSA and
SDA targets 156
10.1 Criteria for value-for-money evaluation of regeneration
programmes 189
10.2 National evaluation of City Challenge – key findings 190
11.1 Collaborative dilemmas 218
List of Abbreviations
ABI Area-Based Initiative
ACPO Association of Chief Police Officers
AGM Annual General Meeting
ASBO Anti Social Behaviour Order
CAT City Action Team
CCT Compulsory Competitive Tendering
CCTV Closed Circuit Television
CDP Community Development Project
CIPFA Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy
CSR Comprehensive Spending Review
CURL Centre for Urban Research and Learning
CVS Council of Voluntary Services
DBFO Design,Build,Finance,Operate
DEFRA Department for Environment,Food and Rural Affairs
DETR Department of the Environment,Transport and the Regions
DTLR Department for Transport,Local Government and the Regions
DfEE Department for Education and Employment
DfES Department for Education and Skills
DoH Department of Health
DHSS Department of Health and Social Security
DSS Department of Social Security
EA Estate Action
EAZ Education Action Zone
EPA Education Priority Area
EU European Union
EYDCP Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships
EZ Employment Zone
FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency
GATS General Agreement on Trade and Services
GEAR Glasgow Eastern Area Renewal
GOR Government Offices for the Regions
HAT Housing Action Trust
HAZ Health Action Zone
HEAT Health Equality Action Team
HIMP Health Improvement and Modernisation Programmes
ix