Bridging the accountability gap - Audit Commission

Governing partnerships | Public accountability in partnerships 55
Figure 11
Partnerships vary
Beliefs about whether the public cares about, or needs to know about partnerships
vary.
The public understand outcomes.
They understand whether schools are
good or bad. They understand
whether public spaces are strewn
with litter or not. They are more aware
of partnerships than they perhaps
have been in the past, but
nevertheless they still just want the
outcomes.
Head of Corporate Performance,
Metropolitan Borough Council
Why should my neighbours in my street
be interested in what it does What they
really should be interested in, and what
they are interested in is, are their bins
emptied on time, are their kids in schools,
what quality of services
LSP Director, Metropolitan Borough Council
The general public’s perception
of which council delivers which
services for them is incredibly
low. People aren’t really aware
of boundaries. Boundaries are
pretty artificial.
Director of Social Service, County
Council
Unless you need a service or come
across it it’s not going to be
something you particularly think about
Head of Democratic, Legal & Registration
Services, County Council
We’ve got, for example, a joint LSP
communication strategy, so that’s
produced with all the PR and
communications people and agencies
working together... So we’re very
clear and consistent about what the
LSP’s all about.
Executive Director, Unitary authority
The public are confused about
which organisation does what.
As long as they get a good
service, does it matter
Partnership working is about
creating seamless services.
Partnership manager, Unitary authority
The joint ventures are the main sort of
service delivery partnerships, and here
public knowledge and accountability must
be absolutely crucial.
Head of Regeneration, Metropolitan Borough
Council