Partnership Governance

The main strength of partnership working is the bringing together of a range of partners, ideas and resources to make more of an impact that one organisation could on its own. However, this is potentially one of partnership working’s main risks, because of the possible confusion about partners’ roles and responsibilities.

The Governance of Partnerships
Governance sets out the ‘rules of engagement’ for a partnership – i.e. how they will operate, what partners’ roles and responsibilities are and how problems will be dealt with. These rules are important so that everyone involved in the partnership knows where they stand and what is expected of them. It is also important for partnerships’ accountability – when public funds are being spent in partnership, it is vital that clear lines of accountability are set in partnership agreements.

The key elements of good governance of partnerships are:

• A strong focus on the purpose of the Partnership, i.e. on outcomes for the community as set out in the Community Strategy.
• Partners, Councillors and officers working together to achieve a common purpose with clearly defined functions and roles.
• High standards of conduct and behaviour.
• Informed and transparent decision-making which is subject to effective scrutiny and managing risk.
• Development of the capacity of partnerships to become more effective over time.
• Engagement with local people and other stakeholders to ensure robust public accountability.
   

Partnerships linked to the WDSP will all have thier own governance arrangements in place.  To see the terms of reference, partners involved and any partnership agreements of a particular partnership, please see their own webpages.

However, there are some governance arrangements which are common across partnerships.  You can view these documents to the right of this page.