People-powered Partnerships

Over the last decade, a new model of public service delivery has been growing in popularity. It is based on one key insight: that if we want to improve the lives of people facing complex, interconnected challenges, we can’t rely on piecemeal, standardised solutions. We need a more targeted, more holistic approach based on three key principles:

At a glance

Instead of trying to impose standardised, clearly specified solutions, give delivery teams the freedom to tailor their solutions to local and individual circumstances – then collect and analyse impact data dynamically, so we can learn from what works and keep iterating to make programmes more effective.

For the most successful projects, that typically means four things:

  • Be transparent about progress (by sharing regular updates against objective, clearly defined milestones)

    Case Study

    In practice: New approaches to tackle homelessness across England

    View Case Study

  • Be accountable to those who access the service (by asking them carefully whether it improved their lives)

    Case Study

    In practice: Support for informal carers in Norfolk and for vulnerable women across England

    View Case Study

  • Consider the broader, longer-term impact of the service (by finding light-touch ways to link into or compare with other Government data)

    Case Study

    In practice: Asset-based community health in Newcastle and Northamptonshire

    View Case Study

  • Assess & share lessons learned to benefit future services (by investing in more sophisticated evaluations that tease out relative benefits of project features)

    Case Study

    In practice: New approaches to evaluation for dynamically managed delivery in Manchester

    View Case Study

Read More

For more detail, read our full report: ‘People-powered Partnerships’

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Please note, the document was created primarily as a learning and discussion resource for the BOP team, and our various partners across Government and the social sector. However if you have any feedback on any of the themes covered, we’d love to hear from you!

Please do get in touch via: hello@bridgesoutcomes.org