ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the nature of local partnerships in the pursuit of economic development and public enterprise. Partnerships are collective bodies comprising a variety of stakeholders. In England, Local Strategic Partnerships were established under the Local Government Act 2000 as the means for formal collaboration at local level. Assessment of partnerships might usefully proceed by consideration of specific sector, as in the study by Baker et al. and also in the work of Gillett et al., who examine cross-sectoral collaboration within housing policy, specifically an ‘Empty Homes’ project, where they identify the tensions and conflicts that can arise from inter-agency collaboration. With regard to people as members of the community for which partnerships do their work, Platts-Fowler and Robinson use a case study in Sheffield, England, to investigate how far local governments utilise community resilience as part of their policy options.
