Evaluating Local Strategic Partnerships: Theory and practice of change

Single Outcome Agreements and Partnership Working in Scottish Local Government – Year One

“…As observed in the evaluation of the Local Strategic Partnership (LSP), English equivalent to the CPPs in Scotland (Geddes, et al, 2007), the current study suggests that the strength of an existing partnership affected the CPP engagement in the 2008 SOA development process. The following comments by two SOA lead officers from the CPP SOA areas support this view:…”

“…This study suggests that the 2008 SOA was an opportunity for local authorities with stronger CPPs to engage partners in the development of the documents which partially confirms the positive relationships between the strength of partnerships and the effectiveness of partnership working in policy development and implementation (Geddes et al, 2007: Gillanders andAhmad, 2007) The views expressed through this study do not sufficiently include those of elected members. The difficult relationships between elected members as advocates for democratic accountability and other key players advocating participatory accountability through community planning initiatives have been observed (Orr and McAteer, 2004;Geddes et al, 2007: Laffin, 2008. Partnership working exercised through community planning reflects ideals of participatory democracy and equality between partners (Balloch & Taylor, 2001:2).…”

Local Government Modernisation in England: A Critical Review of the LGMA Evaluation Studies

“…They are less centrally-prescribed than CPAs. Geddes et al (2007) find that LSPs are struggling to reconcile their ambitious remit with the realities of both resource constraints and a questionable legitimacy given their "ambiguous relationship to local democratic accountability". In other words, tensions exist between LSPs, as a form of participatory democracy, and representative democracy, embodied in elected councillors.…”

“…Central policymakers see LSPs as "a more fluid set of institutional structures and relationships" which will remedy the "perceived deficiencies of traditional, large bureaucratic "silos"" (Geddes et al 2007). LSPs have now been established in most localities.…”

Evaluating good practice in coaching delivery between governing bodies of sport and county sports partnerships in the United Kingdom

“…For example, the creation of Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) that facilitated closer consultation with the users of local services (Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, 2001) became a central feature of the local political landscape (Geddes, Davies &Fuller, 2007). These have traditionally included representation from local authorities, voluntary organisations, local businesses, educational institutions, community and neighbourhood organisations, employment services, and the private sector (Bennett et al, 2004) and are widely premised on the notion of joint rather than parallel working (Asthana, Richardson &Halliday, 2002;Bennett et al, 2004).…”