Public service outcomes needed and expected by the public do not fit neatly into the institutional systems, frameworks and silos that we have spent decades, even centuries creating, and with which service-users are patronisingly expected to comply and accept without question.
All but the most statist of thinkers now accept that the public sector, while always retaining a principal role, cannot, alone, address all society’s needs and expectations – and nor should it.
Contemporary social, cultural, economic and environmental challenges are increasingly complex. They cannot be left no the state alone, any more than they can or should be left to markets and the business sector alone.
Addressing issues of poverty, social exclusion, chronic illness, community safety and economic regeneration requires multi-agency and cross-sector responses. no one sector rules – and no one sector can deliver all the solutions.
Collaboration is likely to often be the most appropriate delivery mechanism.
Local government has always recognised the need to work with others, especially when addressing what [academic and regular MJ author] Professor John Stewart describes as the ‘wicked issues’.
The Labour Government’s Total Place, and the coalition government’s community budget initiatives are some of the more recent manifestations of such policies, while localism embraces greater roles for communities, and for the voluntary and community sector.
The last few decades have seen a greater plurality of public service provision, requiring public service agencies no work more closely with the business and social sectors – and the business and social sectors themselves to work together – to varying degrees of success.
There are many lessons to be learned from this experience, especially that most traditional public sector contracting is far from collaborative.
The barriers to effective collaboration are considerable The trend to more working between the sectors is not a temporary phenomenon, or simply a product of the current austerity and ideological agendas.
Rather, it is a trend which is likely to accelerate rather than slow down over the next decade – ironic, given that the barriers to achieving the right results from collaboration are legendary.
Many arise from structural problems, others from differences in funding, governance and accountability between sectors and agencies, and some from poor procurement and planning processes.
And, sadly, many are a direct consequence of inherited attitudes, prejudices and behaviours, self-protection, arrogance and ‘egos’, fear and insecurity, and a lack of awareness of what is required to collaborate.
Often, people do not take the time or effort to understand, share or speak to each other, communicating; it seems – in different languages and jargon, and then wondering why they find it hard to work with each other…
… And yet the benefits of effective collaboration can be considerable.
The potential benefits of cross-sector collaboration largely stem from the differences between and the unique strengths and contributions of the public, business and social sectors.
These differences are important and should be respected – blurring accountabilities and spurious attempts to conflate the values of the sectors is unhelpful.
Collaboration is not the same as merger or even convergence between the sectors, or the takeover of one by another. and nor can it be based on a traditional contracting model.
Organisations from each sector bring their own instinctive capabilities and expertise. The most effective collaborative arrangements capitalise on the strengths of each. By working together, the whole can be greater than the sum of the parts.
The combinations will vary in different circumstances, and there will be occasions when collaboration is not the most appropriate approach.
Collaborate – a unique new organisation given that there will be more collaboration between the business, public and social sectors, we need to ensure it is value-based, effective and accountable – using analysis, evidence and honest dialogue to secure this.
This is why I am excited to be involved in collaborate – a new, cross-sector body with a specific mission to promote effective and sustainable collaboration between the public, business and social sectors, drawing on the best examples of innovation and practice to secure a paradigm shift in social outcomes, build sustainable communities and foster a strong civil society.
Uniquely, Collaborate will design and undertake all its programmes on a cross-sector basis. It has been set up is an independent, community interest company with cross-sector sponsorship.
Partnering with and based at London South bank University, we will collaborate with practitioners, academics and policy-makers throughout the UK and internationally, pursuing a strategy overseen by a council comprising eminent leaders from all sectors.
Collaborate will undertake research and analysis in order to develop new models of collaboration, and contribute to the development of policy, and operational and professional practice. it will provide a neutral space for practitioners and others to debate and explore ideas, and co-design solutions.
To that and, the Public Management and Policy Association (PMPA) is transferring from CIPFA to Collaborate, and a series of activities under the banner PMPA in alliance with Collaborate’ are planned. Our principal aim, however, is to change behaviours and foster genuine respect and understanding between the sectors.
In that regard, I am confident that Collaborate is of and for its time.