Partnership Working Research Report: Social and Economic Partnership Project

Partnership Working Research Report: Social and Economic Partnership Project

CHAPTER 6: OVERALL FINDINGS

Introduction

2. This report presents qualitative findings from the interviews and group research activities which were carried out by a Scottish Executive team in early 2003. While the sample was limited, some clear themes are apparent. This chapter seeks to draw together some of the key findings from the research.

3. Strong Commitment to Partnership Working

4. The first clear finding emerging from this study is that, in the main, partnership in Scotland is working. There is strong commitment to it, it is being taken forward in a variety of new and dynamic ways, and it looks set to be an increasingly significant feature of the policy landscape. We found an overall commitment to partnership working among partners and the Executive, along with a desire for further improvement.

5. A Diversity of Views on Partnership

6. Even within the limits of the sample used for this study, there clearly is a wide diversity of perspectives on partnership working. Some interpret partnership in a broad way - from informal conversation to working groups to high level set-piece forums, while others define it only as narrowly conceived formal standing mechanisms. Furthermore, these different positions are not aligned with any particular classification of the participants. For example, frustrations that things post-devolution were not moving as fast as they would like were expressed by both Executive and non-Executive participants. At the same time, a number in both groups also expressed some doubt about an apparent 'fashion' for partnership for its own sake.
8. Furthermore, it was found that individuals' own positions were sometimes not wholly consistent, indicating how people often adopt different stances in different contexts. This may be seen to highlight a lag between theory and practice. For example, a significant majority of participants were enthusiastic proponents of greater multi-lateral joint working and sharing agendas, but many also saw partnerships that they are involved in simply as a way to further their own, sometimes fixed, agendas. In the same way, some participants expressed the view that they understand that government will listen and discuss but ultimately will make decisions that not all the partners might agree with, but said that if they have had a 'fair hearing' then they would be satisfied. Yet the same participants also cited residual dissatisfaction around instances where they had failed to gain the outcome they had wanted.
10. For the Executive, tensions arise around managing the need to view partners as equals. It was widely stated that the Executive should seek to involve partners earlier on, and to share the thinking and policy development process. However, there is a potential tension between Ministers' democratic accountability for decision-making and the desire to involve partners more with decision-making. The need for the Executive to share more in their processes was set against the need for partners to act responsibly within partnerships - it was felt that it should be a two-way process. For example, 'leaking' to the press was often felt by Executive participants to be a damaging tactic sometimes adopted by partners, which can lead to Executive counterparts being more cautious and more reluctant to be fully open. Equally, Executive leaks have the potential to damage trust and openness between partners.
12. Despite being critical of current partnership relationships, participants were committed to the ethos of partnership. Those who expressed more satisfaction with current arrangements or the general direction of policy-making were often more limited in their expectations of what partnership was, or indeed could be. Thus much of the discussion around partnership has to be set in a context of a range of differing expectations.

13. A Period of Transition

14. We are currently in a post-devolution transition period, with new opportunities created by having a Parliament, an Executive and enhanced machinery of government in Scotland, and the corresponding growth of policy activity in other sectors. The study found that, as could be expected, such a transition has created a high level of dynamism and fluidity in relationships and partnership arrangements in the policy landscape.
16. While there appears to be broad agreement that we are in a period of opportunity for change, the nature of that change is very contested, as is the vision of the future which underpins it. In the field of partnership and governance, this vision can vary considerably. At its most ambitious, partnership suggests a trusting and equal space where policy is co-produced, where a partnership becomes more than a sum of its parts and people take on the concerns of each other in a mutual, mutable process. At the opposite end of the spectrum, partnership can be seen simply as a way of formally ensuring that fixed positions are heard and seen to be heard in a process owned and controlled by the government.

17. Future Development of Partnership Working

18. While many external participants welcome increased access to, and new ways of working with, the Executive, many are disappointed at the lack of consistency in approaches to partnership working. The view that a partnership approach is not fully embedded within Executive culture led many participants to suggest that the Executive should signal publicly its commitment to partnership working. Without such a commitment, the Executive's position on the ethos of the CSG principles is seen to be unclear.
20. Despite some criticisms, there appears to be broad agreement that the Executive is moving in the right direction. Executive staff involved in the research were optimistic about the opportunities new change initiatives will provide in terms of enhancing and improving the way in which the Executive works with and involves others. However, many partners were unsure about the nature of such change initiatives, although they were encouraged about their potential and saw opportunities for strategic involvement of partners. At any rate there is a sense that there is a need to consolidate existing partnership arrangements, recognising that in recent years there have been considerable developments across policy areas and sectors, and that partnership working needs to be given time to develop.
22. Within discussion about the possibility of there being new mechanisms, there was considerable disagreement about the best way to proceed. A small minority did not want there to be any changes to current partnerships. Some felt that the fluidity and diversity of current arrangements would be best left alone, as it allows things to grow and change and fit the different circumstances that arise across the range of situations where partnership is applicable. This 'ad-hoc variable geometry' was seen to this group to be an organic situation which would become less workable if formal mechanisms were imposed. Yet a small number felt that introducing new mechanisms would help both to signal the importance of partnership and to crystallise and streamline current arrangements. Broadly, business interests were most reticent about formalised multilateral systems, while trade union participants were most enthusiastic about formal mechanisms.