Multi-agency collaboration in local governace: partnership or pragmatism? An exploratory case study
Year: 2012
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Policy makers everywhere are confronted by complex problems and public agencies\nstrive to find effective solutions in a context of dwindling resources and increased\ndemands. This study examines how a partnership, among Irish public agencies, was\nused to address anti-social behaviour on some public housing estates in Limerick\nCity.\nIn 2007 the Limerick City Community Safety Partnership Limited was established.\nThis was the first time a multi-agency community safety partnership was formally\nestablished in the local governance context in Ireland. Government funding was\nprovided to the Partnership to pilot and evaluate an innovative community safety\nintervention.\nThis study examines the nature and outcomes of the Partnership. The research is\nconducted through a single longitudinal case study. The unit of analysis is the\nLimerick City Community Safety Partnership Limited. The research design includes\nqualitative and quantitative methods and draws on the Theory of Change as well as\ngovernance and partnership theories. Key actors, community stakeholders and\nservice users participated in the primary research. Insights from this study and from\ninternational evidence are used to design a model of good practice for multi-agency\npartnerships.\nThe study addresses three questions: (i) is multi-agency partnership an effective\ngovernance mechanism? (ii) does the multi-agency partnership approach improve the\ndelivery of services in local governance? and (iii) what constitutes a model of good\npractice for multi-agency partnership? While the research is conducted with special\nreference to community safety on public housing estates, the partnership model is\nalso significant for public agencies in the delivery of other services and provides an\nevidence-based template for effective public policy interventions.\nAlthough widely advocated, the research finds that in the Irish public sector, multiagency\npartnership is still a relatively new phenomenon and is underdeveloped.\nChange is required in the traditional hierarchical bureaucratic culture of public sector\norganisations if multi-agency partnership is to succeed. Public sector agents\nthemselves must accept multi-agency partnership as a new way of working and be\nprepared to learn how to maximise the collaborative advantage of partnerships.\nThe research concludes that given the appropriate environment and support, multiagency\npartnership can be an effective governance mechanism which adds value,\nthereby improving public services for service users and increasing the effectiveness\nof interventions by public agencies.
Author: Jacinta Mary Cunneen
Language: English
Subfield: Public Administration
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: U.S. Department of Justice
OpenAlex ID: W2145820690