Working better together? Audit Commission publish guidance on managing local strategic partnerships

Last updated:27 April 2009

The Audit Commission has published a report on managing local strategic partnerships (LSPs) called Working better together? The report highlights concludes that overview and scrutiny is not doing enough to hold the LSPs and partners, to account.

In Working better together? The Audit Commission makes it clear that they expect elected members, particularly through the scrutiny process, to help deliver accountability for LSPs. The Audit Commission’s vision of scrutiny providing reviews that will form part of the CAA is encouraging but it comes with the sobering acknowledgement that at present “there is little evidence that councils are using overview and scrutiny arrangements to hold LSPs, and partners, to account.”

Whilst there was a clear rise in the prevalence of overview and scrutiny committees planning reviews into the effectiveness of partnerships this year the fact that only 6% highlighted such reviews as among their most successful in 2008 demonstrates that most OSCs have some way to go before they can be said to be providing robust accountability for LSPs.

Alongside Working Better Together? the Audit Commission has continued a welcome trend of providing separate guidance for overview and scrutiny. This guidance offers a bite-sized introduction into the background, nature and processes involved in Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) and is written in a style that is accessible for members who are new to scrutiny.
 

Related Links

Working better together? Managing local strategic partnerships

Working better together? Key messages for councils’ overview and scrutiny functions