1. Building Better Opportunities in the Black Country
Partnership Working

2. Background to BBO in the Black Country
£23.7 million
Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership identified 4 local priority ‘themes’
Employment Support over 24s
Targeted Communities
Families in Poverty
Digital & Financial Inclusion

3. Cross Strand Collaborative Working
Stage One
Dec Collaborative approach to bidding for BBO Black Country opportunity discussed by 4 organisations
Steps to Work
Heart of England Community Foundation
Black Country Together CIC
Walsall Housing Group/ Accord
Mid 2015 – Joint events held to present offer and create interest in BBO Black Country
Developed shared Expression of Interest forms for potential partners to use
Advertised all strand opportunities together

4. Black Country Together Bridges £10.7m Family Matters Community Matters
Steps to Work
Family Matters
£3.4m
Black
Country
Together
Community Matters
5.04m
Heart of England Community Foundation
Click Start
£3.9m
Walsall Housing Group & Accord
Family Matters
£3.4m
Black Country Together

5. Programme Development
Stage Two
4 strands with different themes, working together as one cohesive programme - Shared vision for BBO Black Country
Standardising sections of project plan
Meetings to pool knowledge and resources
Sharing strategic links
Sharing information e.g. potential risk
Pooling development grant
Procuring shared MI system
Crib sheet

6. Project Delivery
Stage Three
Joint Induction Sessions for Delivery Partners
Lead Operational Meetings
Collaboration Agreement
Data Sharing Agreement
Evaluation
Developing shared MIS reports
Cross-strand referrals
Sharing information from BLF
Identifying common issues
Sharing best practice

7. Organisational cultures Priorities Timelines Broadened reach
Lessons Learned
Difficulties of standardisation across projects managed by different organisations
Organisational cultures
Priorities
Timelines
Broadened reach
Stronger position to tender for these opportunities

8. Partnership Management
Programme Management Teams
Workshops with partners to co-design project plans/tools
Staggered delivery start dates
Partnership Meetings to communicate key messages
Programme Guide
MIS User Guide
Communications Guide
Mandatory Workshops

9. Project Delivery Management
Challenges
Not anticipating the intensive support required by partners
Partners greatly underestimated resources required to run ESF project compliantly
Differences in organisational cultures
Varying levels of knowledge & learning styles
Issues with basic project requirements e.g. eligibility evidence requirements
Not following Programme Guides

10. Project Delivery Management
Challenges
Lack of communication within partner organisations
High volume of staff changes & recruitment which lead organisations had not been made aware of
High volume of errors in claims
Workload created by managing numerous partners
Partners on more than one strand not grasping each has different requirements
Constant changes in guidance

11. Tackling Challenges Support visits 100% audits – remote & onsite
Ensuring maximum availability via , telephone & face-to- face
Delivery: Ongoing 1:1 support – eligibility, paperwork, MIS data entry
Finance: Ongoing 1:1 support & meetings to develop partner internal claims processes
Physically supporting with corrective actions
Re-profiling of targets

12. Tackling Challenges
Putting hold on partners engaging with new participants until quality improved
Re-visit & reassess processes & procedures
Regularly gathering partner feedback
Encouraging partners to attend any ESF/ERDF training available in their area
Produce regular newsletters/bulletins to update partnership on key changes
Increasing Programme Management Team capacity

13. Lessons Learned
The ‘proof of the pudding is in the eating’ – just because a partner can compose a good application and pass a due diligence visit does not mean that they can deliver on this project
Don’t make assumptions about partners & level of knowledge
Don’t assume the bigger & more established partners need the least support
The level of resources required is not directly related to the amount of grant funding awarded
Smaller partnerships would have been more manageable

14. Lessons Learned
Ensuring the right people attend the right meetings, sessions & workshops
Organisations can become dependant on the lead organisation
You will lose partners - procuring new partners comes with a whole new set of challenges
‘Eat sleep claim repeat’- sometimes it feels like Groundhog Day
Frequent BBO Guidance changes have a huge impact in project management and all aspects of delivery
Don’t underestimate how far participants are from the labour market

15. The Benefits of Partnership Working
We are able to offer a holistic programme to participants targeting diverse needs
We have numerous partners across the BC offering their own specialisms
Strong working relationships have flourished across a diverse range of voluntary organisations, many of whom had not worked together before
The 4 Lead Organisations have saved £0000’s in jointly procuring MIS system and jointly seeking legal advice as well as having a joint EOI for partners
The project really does work and makes a huge difference !

16. Questions? Stephanie Hammond Emma Wright Steps to Work WHG
Bridges Click Start
Tracey Quirk Neelam Sunder
Black Country Together CIC Heart of England Community Foundation
Family Matters Community Matters