Worksheet5 Review issues
Review issues | 5.2
As the cluster’s work develops, it is important to keep an eye on the question of risk, and whether the informality that normally characterises the early stages needs to be replaced with something slightly more structured. There are a number of questions which can help with this process of review.
Are you becoming dependent on the cluster’s services?
With an informal structure, there are generally low barriers to exit for you and your partners. If there are changes of key people in one or two of the cluster’s members, its activities may not be as high a priority for the newcomers and they may withdraw. What would the impact be on your organisation if:
- one of the key members of the group left?
- the cluster stopped operating altogether?
If either of these would have a serious effect on any of the members it is probably a sign that a more formal framework is needed.
Are you becoming accountable to one another? What if one of the members doesn’t pull their weight? Is there a risk to the cluster’s reputation or its ability to deliver services to its members?
Is the cluster generating income or raising funds? If so, how is this going to be applied/shared? Are there any implications for members which receive or hold funds on behalf of the cluster? Examples of the latter can be administration costs, or situations where funders operate a “one grant per organisation” rule, and the fundholder can find that having accepted a grant on behalf of the cluster they are then debarred from applying for funding in their own right.
Are you getting into contractual relationships? Joint contracts with suppliers? With commissioners? Are you planning to take on shared staff?
Do you need to be more formal?
Any of these may indicate the need for a more formal framework within which the work of the cluster can fit. These can take a number of forms: Memorandums of Understanding, Service Level Agreements, Joint Venture Agreements, and other intra-group arrangements, “lead body” arrangements for contracting externally, partnerships and special purpose vehicles.
If you feel that this sort of arrangement is indicated, a good starting point is the NCVO guidance booklet Joint Working Agreements. NCVO also runs a microsite – getlegal.co.uk – in conjunction with solicitors Bates, Wells and Braithwaite, which provides free advice on legal forms.
Worksheet 6 – Legal Issues from the toolkit HACT produced as part of its earlier Collaborate project on joint tendering for Supporting People contracts is also free, and focuses specifically on structures for collaborating to bid for and deliver contracts.
The key thing to bear in mind is that whatever formal structures you have in place, they are not a substitute for the goodwill, trust, teamwork and spirit of partnership. These are the hallmarks of successful collaborations. A formal structure should be seen as a way of underpinning these, not replacing them since, if these qualities are not in place, it is likely that the project will founder sooner or later.