Collaboration in local sport services in England: issues emerging from case studies of two local authority areas

Abstract

Encouraging collaboration has been a central component of the Labour government's drive to modernise the delivery of public services and has been a key facet of recent sport policy in England. The proliferation of different forms of collaboration represents a reaction to the changes instigated by previous Conservative governments, which created a fragmented and congested state in which management approaches were based on competition and the value for money delivered by individual governmental agencies. However, the research literature on collaboration is somewhat limited by a lack of definitional clarity and is also characterised by the diversity of theoretical approaches that have been utilised. Research on collaboration in sport also remains in its infancy. To begin to address this limitation, case studies of collaboration between agencies involved in sport and physical activity for young people in two urban local authority areas are presented. The case studies provide evidence of the importance of such collaborations where there are a variety of sporting agencies that operate in changing local contexts.El fomento de la colaboración ha sido un componente decisivo en la motivación del gobierno laborista en la modernización del reparto de los servicios públicos, y la clave de la política del deporte actualmente en Inglaterra. La proliferación de distintas maneras de colaboración, representa una reacción frente a los cambios realizados por los distintos gobiernos conservadores que creó un estado congestionado y fragmentado, en el que se basaron los enfoques gubernamentales en la rivalidad y en la relación calidadprecio dada por agencias gubernamentales individuales. Debido a la falta de claridad en cuanto a la definición del término colaboración, no existe mucha investigación literaria sobre el tema, y también se define por la diversidad de enfoques teóricos que se han utilizado. La investigación sobre la colaboración en el deporte está en los primeros estadios. Para empezar a tratar esta limitación se presentan dos estudios sobre la colaboración entre agencias del deporte y la actividad física de jóvenes de dos áreas de autoridades locales. Los estudios presentan una evidencia sobre la importancia de la colaboración para cambiar el contexto local en que una variedad de agencias están involucradas en el deporte y la actividad física de los jóvenes. Además, los problemas surgidos de ambos estudios relacionados tanto con los estructuras en si como con los procesos dentro de ellas, reflejan aspectos importantes identificados en literaturas conceptuales más amplias. El artículo concluye contemplando brevemente las implicaciones de los problemas frente a políticos, profesionales y futuros investigaciones sobre la colaboración en el deporte.

Delivery networks and community sport in England

“…However, partnership effectiveness is significantly reinforced if the strong common beliefs about objectives are supported by a pattern of resource dependence which results in an acknowledged (even if not preferred) pattern of authority within the network. This reinforces the notion that both external context and internal structure are influential in developing effective collaborations (Lindsey, 2009). Thus, CSPs will always struggle to fulfil their ambition to be the strategic lead for the area unless they can negotiate common objectives (which for some will be difficult given their accountability to Sport England) and reinforce their position with access to desirable resources which might not necessarily be finance, but might be sport development expertise, organisational capacity and brokering skills.…”

“…Policy network theory also draws attention to the non-hierarchical patterns of interaction between government agencies, interest groups, elected officials, other institutions and individuals exogenous to formal government organizations (Kenis and Schneider, 1991), and the extent to which these interactions modify the way power is exercised and influence the actions of the government (Miller and Demir, 2007). Lindsey (2009) has previously used Marsh and Rhodes' (1992) theoretical insights to contextualise understanding of collaboration in sport at the local level. This study uses Adam and Kriesi's conceptualisation of policy networks.…”

Balancing between coordination, cooperation and competition? A mixed-method approach for assessing the role ambiguity of local sports authorities

“…Henry 2001, Houlihan and White 2002, Lindsey 2009). Our results show that local sports authorities are more likely to cooperate with non-profit sport clubs and other public providers, compared to for-profit sport providers.…”

“…A number of studies deal with cooperation between public and private organisations (e.g. Allison 2001, Babiak 2007, Robson 2008, Lindsey 2009, Ytting 2009, Vos and Scheerder 2014.…”

“…A number of scholars have addressed this local dimension in sport policies (e.g. Nichols et al 1998, Bergsgard et al 2007, Houlihan and Lindsey 2008, Lindsey 2009, Numerato 2009). This is also where the present paper wants to contribute to the state of research.…”