Couple Therapy

Rosa Malley is an intern at the Institute for Government and has just submitted her PhD thesis on women’s political representation at Westminster and the Scottish Parliament at the University of Bristol. She is currently working on a joint Public Chairs’ Forum and Institute for Government project to develop a framework for effective arm’s length bodies and departments. She writes about this work here:

Public Bodies have received a great deal of attention under the Coalition government. Much of the government’s first year has focused on their reorganisation and reform. There has been less consideration of the more fundamental issue of the relationship between government departments and the arm’s length bodies they sponsor. Yet since most public bodies are continuing in some form, this remains really important – to the body, to the government and to the taxpayer. It has been consistently identified as a problem by Public Chairs’ Forum members.  And lack of clarity on roles and responsibilities of government and its ALBs, and relations ranging from micro-management to benign neglect, were highlights in the Insitute for Government’s report Read Before Burning.

A new project –  being done jointly between the Public Chairs’ Forum and the Institute for Government – is looking at how best to create effective relations between central government and ALBs. Looking at a range of arm’s-length bodies in terms of size, scope and subject, and across government departments, we are seeking to identify examples of ‘good practice’ and pitfalls to avoid. In conducting a series of interviews with public body chairs and chief executives, as well as Ministers, Permanent Secretaries and people running or working in sponsor teams, we aim to capture perspectives from multiple sides of the relationship and produce a practical guide. 

Consistently raised by all parties is the need for greater ‘strategic alignment’. In many cases, departments and arm’s length bodies share an understanding of operational functions, but are less in synch in their strategy and broader priorities. The effectiveness of relations looks to depend not only on meaningful framework agreements, but also on the quality of personal relations. As one sponsor comments, ‘people without structures are hopeless and structures without people are barren and cold’. The initial findings indicate there is no ‘best model’ for engagement. However, there is unanimous agreement so far on the importance of openness, frankness and an embedded ‘no surprises’ rule.

This project is still underway. We aim to report in March. We would appreciate your thoughts.