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Lynne Haig describes an innovative project being implemented in Suffolk. Collaboration is the new buzz word for much for the public, voluntary and even some of the private sector. The impact of the recession and impending public sector cuts mean organisations must find new ways of delivering quality products and services with fewer resources - and partnership work is now rightly being explored in more depth. In January, a leadership collaborative of 22 chief executives from the public, private and voluntary sectors in Suffolk met for the first time as part of The Lives we Lead initiative, Suffolk's equivalent to Total Place. Right in the middle of tense Local Government Review discussions, it looked like it would be an uphill struggle to establish the kind of trust and collaboration needed for these leaders to work together more effectively. Nine months on the scene was quite different at last week's Lives we Lead – New Horizons summit, an event hosted by the leadership collaborative to mark the end of the first chapter of Lives we Lead and to take the message of collaboration and innovation to 300 people from across Suffolk. Examples of effective collaboration were show-cased in 11 "experience pods" and participants were challenged to commit to working together to help improve public services in Suffolk. Having designed and led Calling Cumbria I carried the baton to Suffolk. The Lives we Lead programme informed proposals to Sir Michael Bichard during his Operational Efficiency Programme and Lives We Lead remains a fore-runner to Total Place. However, Suffolk's programme differs significantly from Total Place in that rather than starting from "show us the money" the focus was on building a foundation for effective relationships and trust. While no one can argue with the concept of greater collaboration, putting this into practice, and sustaining this practice beyond a single initiative, is fraught with difficulties. Managers can become conditioned to protecting their budgets and sometimes this can lead to difficult relationships with colleagues or partners, making suddenly asking everyone to disclose how much money they have - and could share or give up - a difficult task. To combat this, Lives We Lead invested time ensuring the 22 chief executives involved agreed on the need for this project and its potential outcomes. Without this investment, discussions about finances and resources could have been strained at best and unsustainable at worst. Now Suffolk's leaders have mapped the county's £4.8bn of public money, as in Total Place, but they were able to move quickly to the "so what?" question once this exercise was complete. The focus was able to move swiftly on to the things that matter most to Suffolk; skills, the environment, building aspiration and helping people to help themselves. Collaboration is taken as a given in Suffolk now and the potential leverage of pooled budgets is the starting point. As a self-styled group of "barrier busters" the leadership collaborative also looks at where they can simplify and focus joint working as well as challenging whether current statutory partnership arrangements are the most efficient ways of delivering local outcomes. So far, the Lives we Lead programme has created several collaborative schemes to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of public services and encourage economic development. A new social enterprise partnership has been created to establish 10 green social enterprises in Suffolk, while a cross-sector approach is now being taken to create work opportunities for young people including apprenticeships. Last week's summit marked an important shift in gear as The Lives we Lead programme moved beyond its 22 chief executives. As well as the summit itself series related fringe events have been taking place all over the county, bringing people together to work on topics as diverse as building a society for all ages, happiness and experiential innovation and they continue to gather momentum in the coming months. Suffolk's leaders are well aware of the tough challenges ahead of them but they see the potential for wide-reaching innovation and for working hard on working together. The summit succeeded in getting dozens of organisations to think about how they could contribute towards Suffolk's future by working with others and it became clear that Suffolk, as a total place, will pull together to protect the quality of the Lives they Lead. For more information visit www.suffolksummit.com Lynne Haig is director of Taylor Haig

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WHITEHALL

Together we stand

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