1. Minimum Contract Level Support Programme Partnerships ‘Beyond the Honeymoon’ 13 December Caroline Wilkinson - LSIS Partnership Adviser 1

2. Partner responsibilities in strategic partnerships - audit
Reading and influencing the environment - reviewing trends and opportunities, partnership strengths and weaknesses, consulting stakeholders

3. Responsibilities audit
Developing strategy and gaining commitment - setting and securing support for mission and objectives …
Planning, securing resources, implementation - developing proposals and plans, allocating and attracting resources, delegating authority, communications
Monitoring and evaluation

4. Using the tool …
Take stock, work through the table one responsibility at a time and consider …
Is this something we need to do?
Who is responsible? Is it a responsibility we share? Is the responsibility clearly allocated?
Do we need to carry out the responsibility better?
What action is needed? By whom and by when?

5. Your voice … AELP Research Report
750 AELP members and contacts – 93 responses
83% independent/private training providers
Larger organisations - Increased staffing levels and restructure of roles
Smaller organisations – decrease in staffing and restructuring, increase in need for specific expertise, changes in contractual arrangements
Providers over £500K increased resources: MI, developing sub-contractor systems, improving marketing

6. AELP Research …
Providers under £500K resources reduced, take more streamlined approach, because of management fee they more frugal and not able to refurbish or upgrade resources – being stretched
Large providers – increase in learners
Smaller providers – reduced learner numbers
Attitude change with smaller providers:
“cut costs wherever possible and just do the minimum required – not a great learner experience”
“less willing to work with hard to reach”

7. AELP Research …
Smaller providers with an exemption and those with contract under £1m anxious re: potential increase in future
Some building capacity, others building relationships
Provider good practice: looking for win:win, maintaining autonomy, robust contracts, developing frameworks and monitoring tools, on-going communication links

8. Word on the ground … Negatives:
Ending up with less funding and more work
Difficulty with pushing apprenticeships to older learners
Specific qualifications and funding for particular sectors
Time taken to sort out the contract
Response times
Red tape …
VAT being charged on management fees
Provider factor changes …reduction in funding as determined by the lead
Losing good providers

9. Word on the ground …. Positives:
Able to spend own allocation how we wish
Partnering with a well-known brand
Larger allocations
Added value re other courses and funding opportunities
Benefits gained in terms of working with partners with higher quality ratings
Sharing good practice

10. Any questions? Sharing actions you will be taking away ….

11. Resources Support for Collaborative Contracting Case Studies Toolkits:
Managing Risk
Partnership Planning and Working
Shared Leadership and Governance
Shared Services
Sub-contracting
Quality Management
Sub-contracting (Nov 2011)
Annual planning and operations cycle (Nov 2011)

12. Wrapping Up We’ll send you evaluation form and a link to the recording
Slides from the seminar will be on the Excellence Gateway
You may be be interested in further support from the LSIS MCL Support Programme.
A range of resources are available on the Excellence Gateway site
Further web seminar events are planned,  you can find details and registration on events.lsis.org.uk/Pages/Event/Stage1/Events.aspx
If you would like to talk to an MCL Partnership Adviser please send an to