Children's services commissioners have also outlined the importance of voluntary and community groups embracing partnership working and submitting joint-commissioning proposals that bring together shared knowledge and expertise.
Partnership working can come in many forms and there is a growing recognition within the voluntary and community sector that, if done well, collaboration can offer many benefits. The question now is how can we organise our future partnerships to deliver the best possible outcomes for children and young people?
Organisations might map what's out there in terms of partnership working and then assess ways in which they can get involved. It is clear that a method to support these relationships is needed, and one possibility is the creation of local partnership facilitators to help create and maintain these partnerships, as well as to provide support when things get tricky.
To ensure collaboration between organisations is the best it can be, partners need to start by being honest about what to expect from a partnership and what they are willing to contribute. They should be prepared to agree structures that are outside what is considered normal partnerships, which may allow VCS organisations to play to their strengths.
There is also a need to find ways for smaller organisations to access more partnership opportunities and develop more structured ways of getting large organisations to facilitate this.
Ultimately, what is important in any type of partnership working is that we don't lose sight of the vision - to provide the best possible service for children, young people and families.
POSITIVES AND NEGATIVES OF SMALL ORGANISATIONS
Positives
- Retains a local dimension
- Uses all talents
- Retains identity
- Helps smaller VCOs lever support and development
- Addresses local needs
- Deals with contracts and forms
- Is creative in finding solutions that fit VCS and community culture and values
Negatives
- If one leads and others follow, some VCS organisations may move away from their founding aims
- May create a dependency culture
- Grass roots VCS voices are lost among larger partnership organisations
- No overall plan for sustainability
- Subject to asset stripping rather than knowledge sharing.
