Putting the Pizzazz into Partnerships
Ella Fitzgerald once declared that “T’ain’t
what you do, it’s the way that you do it – that’s what gets
results”.
For many local strategic partnerships,
achieving and delivering shared priorities is a tricky task.
So how can they achieve the right outcomes for communities?
Time to talk
Communication is the key, according to Julie
Doyle –chair of the Enable partnership in East Northamptonshire and
managing director of Spire Homes, a Longhurst Group
member.
She says: “it’s partly about joking up
existing strategies – health, policing, housing and so on.
Initially Enable explored ways of improving communication across
agencies, keeping everyone informed of each other’s
priorities. Since then, we’ve become much smarter about our
joint working – and are now changing our plans and strategies to
create shared district priorities.” These priorities include
two Northamptonshire estates where perceptions of crime were high.
The police were starting to tackle anti-social behaviour problems
but others hadn’t registered the estates as priorities.
Julie said “Through Enable, we recognised the
opportunity to make a bigger collective impact. Several
agencies agreed to invest in the areas concerned, and complement
the work being done by the police.” Spire Homes introduced an
‘estate walkabout’ programme with residents, tackling concerns such
as graffiti, overgrown landscaping and fly tipping. The
association also funded new fencing and environmental improvements,
to enhance the areas. Partner agencies chipped in too – for
example, the youth service provided football training
sessions. So collectively, Enable members achieved much more
than the individual organisations could by working in
isolation.
Julie believes that partnership working makes
community engagement easier. She said. “It’s critical to
listen to residents’ concerns and identify what’s happening.
Through Enable, we’ve got a wider range of contacts out and about,
so we can respond more quickly to any concerns raise. Then
through collective action, residents see the results more quickly
and have greater ownership of the situation. So the hard work
also stands a better chance of being sustained.”
To keep track of its impacts, the partnership
measures resident perceptions of projects before, and after,
intervention.
Significant others?
Traditional perceptions of housing
organisations are all about the bricks and mortar – in which case,
exactly how significant are these joint initiatives?
For Julie, the answer is clear. “It’s critical
that we’re involved in local strategic partnerships and local area
agreements. At Spire Homes, we’re a major landlord and
provider of services. To get the best for our residents, we
need to be at the table, influencing debate. So I’m grateful
for the opportunity and the recognition that the council has given
us to support local partnership development.”
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