International review of effective governance arrangements for employment-related initiatives
by Bruce Walker and Sian Sankey
DWP commissioned the Centre for Urban and Regional Studies at the University of Birmingham to undertake a short review of the international experience of governance arrangements for employment-related initiatives. In addition to desk-based research, two in-depth case studies were conducted; one in Denmark and the other in Vancouver, Canada. These case studies have confirmed the department's understanding of partnership and governance arrangements. The main findings were as follows:
Those involved in partnership working must be committed to the goals agreed for that partnership and it must be accepted by local and non-local partners alike that time and resources will be required to initiate and maintain it.
There needs to be a willingness to negotiate and compromise on the part of all participants.
Delivering effective employment services can never solely be a local concern. It is both unfair and potentially inefficient for otherwise similar workless individuals and groups to receive radically different services.
There has to be some mechanism for ensuring like treatment of similar people in different areas, whilst encouraging local involvement and innovation.
One such mechanism might be the requirement that local partnerships meet some specified standards in fulfilling their functions or have to meet given priorities.
This mechanism should be incentivised so that the achievement of such standards and requirements can result in the allocation of additional resources and/or additional discretionary powers to partnerships which are successful.
November 2008 86 pages 297x210mm
ISBN 978 1 84712 459 3