Dealing with the deficit is the coalition government's number one priority. And with some departments facing spending cuts of up to 40%, it is essential that the government finds new and more efficient ways of delivering services. The role of independent providers will need to increase, with partnerships between private and third sector organisations set to play a greater role, particularly in welfare-to-work, healthcare and offender management. Strong leadership from leaders of the organisations involved will be essential.

Cross-sector partnerships

Cross-sector partnerships have a unique role in public services markets, as they enable the strengths of organisations from each sector to be harnessed. This can lead to better services for individuals and communities, as well as benefits for taxpayers and service partners.

Working in tandem allows the pooling of knowledge and expertise and the sharing of trust and respect from different client groups. It also helps ensure service providers have access to the resources necessary to put sustainable programmes in place. This brings excellent value for money and clear benefits to service users.

Partnerships can draw on the local knowledge of an area built up over years by a particular charity and combine it with a tried and tested training programme run by a private organisation, or they can make the most of the secure funding of a private provider to try innovative ways of reaching out to harder-to-help communities.

In addition, partnership working encourages new perspectives and approaches for both organisations and broadens the experience and skills of those engaged in service delivery. This not only improves services for clients – it further strengthens the organisations and their capacity to make a difference in other areas of service delivery.

Overcoming challenges

Working in partnership also raises some challenges. One risk is the potential damage to reputation for either partner in the event of failure and the impact that this could have on both partners. Organisations need to develop ways of testing the capacity of potential partners, to minimise the risk that a partner fails to deliver its agreed outcomes.

Another potential pitfall of joining organisations from different sectors together is the possibility of a 'culture clash'. Any two organisations have different ways of working and these differences can be particularly pronounced when the private and third sector work together. Partners therefore need to establish agreed ways of working in order to build trust among themselves.

Leaders should be alert to the fact that frequent changes to personnel can rapidly weaken partnerships. It takes time to build up trusting and mutually beneficial relationships and leaders should ensure these develop when new staff join.

Working together necessitates the sharing of information and expertise which is often market sensitive. This is another area which risks damaging a partnership. Again, the answer is to build trust and ensure open and honest communication between partners from the outset.

Strong leadership

Bold and effective leadership is needed from the outset, before a partnership is even formed, and is the key to unlocking the benefits of partnership working.

First, a leader should select a partner carefully, taking time to identify an organisation with complementary skills and a similar ethos. Ingeus and Papworth Trust are a great example: building on the expertise of delivery brought by Ingeus and the in-depth understanding of disability contributed by Papworth Trust, the partnership delivers highly tailored services.

Second, a leader should be honest about the strengths and weaknesses of their own organisation and work effectively with the partner to build on these. This will allow potential stumbling blocks to be avoided, and will help engender good relations between the two organisations.

Third, honest and open communication with staff from both organisations is crucial to ensuring the partnership works on the frontline. This can be achieved through meetings and training, communicating openly and encouraging the development of the relationship where possible.

Finally, to ensure a strong partnership is maintained, leaders must build a supportive structure that allows each provider the freedom to do their job while also developing trust and collaboration. Serco and The Alliance provide a good example of this, formalising their relationship to deliver services to parents of disabled children in a document explaining the basis of the partnership. Serco also acted as a reference for their annual review.

Improving partnerships

In an effort to find out what makes for effective partnerships, the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO) and CBI worked with leaders of private and third sector organisations to produce a report titled Win-Win, which includes case studies of the positive difference partnership working is making. The report highlights the benefits of partnership working and provides practical advice to leaders on how to avoid the pitfalls involved.

This project highlighted the appetite third and private sector organisations have for working in partnerships. Innovative cross-sector alliances will play an important part in ensuring our public service delivery remains world-class in the years to come and we hope to see a healthy development in this market.