Bridging the accountability gap - Audit Commission

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50 Governing partnerships | Governing partnerships for better accountability Figure 8 Pooled budgets in local government There has been a marked growth in use of pooled budgets in local government. Percentage 100 90 80 74 70 60 53 50 40 30 20 10 0 County councils Source: Audit Commission, 2004 43 London boroughs 72 72 50 Metropolitan borough councils 34 54 Unitary authorities 2002/03 2003/04 114 In the NHS, the use of pooled budgets shows a similar increase in 2003/04 over 2002/03, although from a lower base than in local government (Figure 9). 115 Pooled budgets are the clearest example of integration between separate organisations and most clearly illustrate the balance between risks and benefits in partnerships. They have the potential to bring significant benefits, in terms of greater clarity of purpose, increased resources and better services. They also, however, bring the risks that this section of the report has identified. These risks require careful management to realise the anticipated benefits and this is achieved through the pool memorandum of accounts. The host to the pooled budget arrangement prepares the pool memorandum of accounts, which shows the pattern of the budget’s income and expenditure, and sends it to each of the partners for inclusion in their own statements of accounts. The role of host, which can be adopted by any best value authority, does not confer any additional risks to an organisation; participating organisations share these risks. Agreeing the pooled budget
Governing partnerships | Governing partnerships for better accountability 51 memorandum is important precisely because accountability remains with organisations that are not in charge of the day-to-day management of the budget. Figure 9 Pooled budgets in health There has been a marked growth in use of pooled budgets in the NHS, albeit from a lower base than in local government. Percentage 100 90 80 70 66 60 50 40 40 30 20 10 12 7 7 0 0 Primary care trust NHS trust Strategic health authority 2002/03 2003/04 Source: Audit Commission, 2004 116 Governance needs to be robust, but auditors report problems with reaching agreement on the memorandum in a substantial proportion of local authorities and NHS bodies.
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Page 3 and 4: Governing partnerships | Contents 1
Page 5 and 6: Governing partnerships | Summary 3
Page 7 and 8: Governing partnerships | Recommenda
Page 9 and 10: Governing partnerships | Introducti
Page 15 and 16: 1 The partnership landscape Why do
Page 17 and 18: Governing partnerships | The partne
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Page 35 and 36: Governing partnerships | Governing
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Page 55 and 56: 4 Public accountability in partners
Page 57 and 58: Governing partnerships | Public acc
Page 63 and 64: Governing partnerships | Improving
Page 73 and 74: Governing partnerships | Appendix 1
Page 75 and 76: Governing partnerships | Appendix 2
Page 77 and 78: Appendix 3: References 1 Sullivan a
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