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Partnership agreements and governance This section focuses on accountability and the specific role of councillors in partnerships. Other sections have also emphasised the importance of clarity of vision and objectives, and the need for good systems to manage performance. See Being a good partner and Partnership agreement. The accountability arrangements and the processes by which the partnership will be held to account need to be explicitly stated in partnership agreements. This is particularly important for executive partnerships where there are delegated responsibilities for the delivery of services and the management of budgets. Systems for ensuring clear accountability need to be based on the principles outlined in the Report of the Committee in Standards in Public Life (the Nolan Committee):
The Chartered Institute for Public Finance in 'Accountability, Framework for Public Services' outlines four important areas: "...which public service bodies and the individuals within them (whether appointed or elected members, and officers) should provide an account of:
They must also adopt a process which ensures proper accountability arrangements, and lay these open to appropriate external scrutiny. This will be built on the existing corporate governance arrangements of the agencies involved." Information on obtaining a copy of 'Accountability, Framework for Public Services' can be found on the CIPFA website. The statutory responsibilities of local authorities for the delivery of personal social services still apply even if services are integrated or provided in partnership. Whatever the arrangement, council members have a duty to ensure that the social care functions for which they are responsible are discharged effectively. (Note that once the Green Paper, Every Child Matters is confirmed in legislation, all Councils will be expected to appoint a lead Councillor for Children's services). Partnership agreements must outline how the work of the partnership will be monitored by the local authority, to enable the authority to satisfy itself that its statutory responsibilities are being discharged effectively by the partnership. Standards for service delivery should be identified and regular reports need to be produced to provide the information needed by the local authority, and ensure good outcomes for services users and carers. 'New Roles for Old: Local Authority Members and Partnership Working,' by Mick Wilkinson and Gary Craig is a study which explores the role of councillors in partnerships. It also identifies how councillors can be supported in the new roles which partnership working requires. A summary of their findings and access to the full report can be found here. Partnership agreements and governance In Agreements above, a framework for a partnership agreement is described. A section on governance arrangements should be included which clarifies:
Guidance on the Health Act Section 31 Partnership Arrangements
and a checklist for using Health Act flexibilities can be found
here. Both include specific sections on governance. The Integrated Care Network's website has a specific section on governance. This includes an example of a partnership board's governance documents. In summary – the key governance issues for local authorities in discharging their social services responsibilities through partnerships are:
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