Partnership working has become a feature of delivering public services. NHS bodies and local authorities have a statutory responsibility under the Health Act to work together. In order to qualify for funding voluntary organisations frequently must demonstrate that they are working with others. This toolkit provides a brief overview of good practice in partnership working and includes a tool for assessing the effectiveness of a partnership group. It outlines the benefits to be gained when different organisations work effectively together, such as building on the strengths of organisations, allowing them to pool resources, avoiding duplication, and maximising impact.The Toolkit examines the barriers to effective partnership working including different organisational cultures, varying expectations of partners, lack of senior commitment and poor information exchange within and outside the partnership. It also sets out features which make partnerships successful. They include a balance of responsibility between partners, identifying the necessary skill mix, clear shared vision and goals, achievable outcomes and regular evaluation.
Voluntary organisations in rural areas have had mixed experiences of regionalisation according to a new report looking into how the voluntary sector has responded to its changing relationship with government bodies at a national, regional and local level.The report has been produced by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations to examine the effect of the Government’s Rural Strategy of last year on voluntary and community organisations working in rural areas and its future implications.
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Government’s policies for families are exposing tensions and conflicts with Britain’s commitments on human rights that need to be debated and resolved, according to a study published today. The report, produced for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, finds that while international conventions require the government to recognise the rights and needs of children and parents, the needs of different family members often compete and this reflected in inconsistencies in policy areas.The study has been written by Clem Henricson, the Director of Research and Policy at the National Family and Parenting Institute, and Andrew Bainham, Reader in Law at Cambridge University. They have reviewed the implications of the European Convention on Human Rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child for child and family policy. The study also considers the possible impact of the Charter of Fundamental Rights under the proposed European Union Constitution.
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