Bridging the accountability gap - Audit Commission

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26 Governing partnerships | Partnerships and value for money – the costs and benefits 59 But there are also practical problems. It is very difficult for public bodies to assess accurately the costs of shared activity because: ● ● ● corporate accounting frameworks do not offer the facilities needed for public bodies to record the full costs of partnership activities – opportunity costs and staff costs, as well as direct expenditure; although there are clear accounting streams for centrally funded partnership activity costs, many partnerships exist without dedicated external funding; and there is no common accounting framework across public bodies (still less voluntary and private sector partners). 60 Partnership governance arrangements can nonetheless set out clearly how funding is accounted for. Even where the partnership does not spend money directly, it will need to influence how partner bodies spend and it must be able to judge the impact of this funding in helping to achieve shared objectives. Sharing services 61 The need to improve value for money drives strategic procurement partnerships: shared service delivery partnerships, PFI and PPP. Some audited and inspected bodies have paid little attention to value for money in other forms of partnership. They have focused on improving partnership processes rather than attempting to calculate the cost-tooutcomes relationship. This is because: ● ● ● partnerships often work towards long-term objectives; some people believe that it is only possible to show improvements from partnership working qualitatively; or public bodies generally are wary of trying to quantify value for money. 62 The Strategic Partnering Taskforce pathfinder projects have yet to be evaluated. However, they clearly aimed to bring about significant efficiency savings through strategic partnerships between local authorities for the provision of ICT, benefits administration and call centres and between education and social care agencies and PCTs. 63 On a smaller scale, there is scope for some local bodies to streamline their functions in order to achieve savings.
Governing partnerships | Partnerships and value for money – the costs and benefits 27 Using resources effectively 64 Most reports on partnership working identify problems in this area. ‘Many partnerships have yet to demonstrate effective use and management of resources. There are examples of inefficient financial planning, especially in relation to the use of short-term funding. All local partnerships need to do more to make sure that effective use is being made of resources, that local stakeholders are involved and that planning includes improved follow-on services.’ (Ref. 14) 65 Partnerships must marshal the resources from each partner to tackle problems in the most cost-effective way for the communities they serve. This often means taking hard decisions, and communities will usually hold their local authority to account for them. ‘It’s very difficult for the Council. You can hear it in the local community that the Council didn’t bid, or it ignored that opportunity. And I think it takes quite a brave decision maker to say sorry we’re not doing that because we can get something better over here for our money, even if it’s not quite so high profile.’ Finance manager, metropolitan borough council 66 Increasingly, integration offers the means to reduce costs. In one county, the fire, ambulance and police services reformed their business processes to increase efficiency and use assets and buildings more productively. Through integrating back-office functions, they estimate that substantial savings and other gains have been made (Box B).
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Page 15 and 16: 1 The partnership landscape Why do
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