Government guidance on consultation
Although the focus of this module is on partnerships and the use of resources, a brief section is included on involving those who have an interest in the services or issues covered by the partnership. The concept of 'stakeholder involvement' is useful in this respect. Arguably, involving stakeholders will enable you to focus and deploy your resources more effectively.
'Stakeholders' are all those who have a stake or interest in the partnership. In order to be inclusive, it is important to find ways of involving all stakeholders, not just those agencies which are involved in the partnership. Individual service users, carers and the groups that represent them might be included in the partnership or engaged in other ways.
The challenge for partnerships which focus on social care issues is the number of different stakeholders who need to be included in some way and the complexities of involving them.
The Joseph Rowntree publication 'Making Partnerships Work' by Andrew Wilson and Kate Charlton available from here, outlines four categories which can be used for identifying the main stakeholders in any partnership:
- People or organisations who are needed as a resource
- People or organisations who will be affected by the initiative
- People or organisations who are on the sidelines. They might not be directly involved but have an interest
- People or organisations who feel that they have a 'right' to be involved.
They also refer to a method of mapping stakeholders which is drawn from the work of Johnson and Scholes in their book 'Exploring Corporate Strategy'.
This involves mapping the power and interest of stakeholders on a four point matrix (Exhibit 11).
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EXHIBIT 11 |
Mapping the power and interest of stakeholders |
Analysis using this matrix will help identify the type of relationship which might be developed with each stakeholder.
For example, the key players in category D may need to be full members of the partnership. This contrasts with stakeholders in category C who have a low interest in the work of the partnership but are powerful members of their community. This group might be satisfied by being consulted at key points.
Service users and their carers may be included in category C as having a high level of interest in the work of the partnership, but relatively little power in reality. However, partnerships should carefully consider whether involving users and carers by simply keeping them informed is a satisfactory response.
If the partnership considers that there is a need to engage users and carers more fully in the work of the partnership (for example, that they should be viewed as stakeholders in group D in the matrix), then resources need to be made available to invest in empowering them to participate fully in the partnership.
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Payback from involving users The payback from such an investment can be considerable. Services can be more effective and resources used more efficiently, because:
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Wilson and Charlton also highlighted some key lessons about stakeholder involvement which are quoted below. Many initiatives have hit problems through not following this advice:
"A vital lesson in the partnership development process is to identify different stakeholders groups and take appropriate action to ensure they do not feel alienated or threatened." "Very often partnership proposals are seen to be 'wrong' or 'inappropriate', not because they are inherently unsound but because key influencers have not been involved in the formulation process."John Bryson, who specialises in strategic planning for public and non-profit making organisations, has produced a workbook on. Creating and Implementing Your Strategic Plan. This includes a useful section on stakeholder analysis.
Providing more detailed advice on stakeholder involvement is beyond the scope of this module but further references are provided in the References Section
Government guidance on consultation
In November 2000 The Cabinet Office published a Code of Practice on Written Consultation. The Code sets out new standards for consultation documents issued by the Government. It aims to increase the involvement of individuals and groups in public consultations, minimising the burden it imposes on them, and giving them enough time to respond. The Code of Practice can be found here.
In Wales, the Assembly has worked with Funky Dragon, the Children and Young People's Assembly for Wales, to develop Breathing Fire into Participation (see www.wales.gov.uk/subichildren/content/dragon/index-e.htm), that sets out the principles of participation, including references to information and sources of good practice. The Assembly has also provided finance to a consortium of organisations to establish a Development Unit that will provide advice, information and relevant training.