DTI
Partnership Fund Announces projects to receive funding
from the 2003 round of applications. 5th
round winners 
(306kb)(please
make this a link to the following word document)
What
is Partnership
at Work?
Partnership at work refers to the relationship between
employers, employees and their representatives.
Partnership is about developing better employment
relationships at all levels, helping to build trust in the
workplace, the sharing of information and working
together to solve business problems. Where partnership
is successful, employers and employees both recognise the
importance of their relationship and positively work
towards developing this further for mutual reward.
What
is the Partnership
at Work Fund?
The
Fund is a grant award scheme designed to improve
employer-employee relationships, workplace productivity and
job satisfaction. Projects for support under the Fund are
invited on a competitive basis during fixed rounds.
Organisations could be looking at partnerships for the first
time or building on existing efforts. An independent
Assessment Panel assesses all applications to the
Partnership Fund against the published criteria. The grant
scheme offers up to 50% funding of eligible projects that
are looking to adopt partnership approaches. The applicants
must meet the remainder of the costs and the maximum grant
available is £50,000.
Which projects have been successful so far?
The
Partnership Fund has funded some 160 projects, totalling £5
million in funding. There were 33 successful winners' in
the first round of the Partnership Fund, 40 in the second,
37 in the third and 49 in the latest round of
applications. A fifth call for applications is scheduled
for summer 2003. Please monitor
this site for further details.
We have detailed case studies of several of the winners and of
some other partnership users to show what can
be achieved.
We
also have brief descriptions of:
1st round
winners
2nd round winners
3rd round winners
4th round winners
5th round winners
(306kb)
How much money is available?
The
initial £5 million that was available has now been
distributed with the first four calls. In December 2001,
the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Patricia
Hewitt, announced a further £20 million funding for best
practice initiatives encompassing the Partnership Fund and
other DTI schemes. The increased funding will build on the
success of the programme and will include support of
regional and sector level projects, in addition to
maintaining existing support for the projects at
organisational level, click
here to
find out more on sector and regional level projects.
Who is eligible to apply to the Partnership Fund?
Companies,
business intermediaries including employer federations,
trade unions and other employee representatives, trade
associations, Business Links, Learning and Skills Councils
(or equivalents), public sector bodies and charities are
all eligible to apply. Bids can come from an individual
workplace submitting a project between the employer (or
their representatives) and employees (or their
representatives); a trade union working with the
employer/employees or a Business Link or LSC (or
equivalent) working with a business or organisation. There
is no set number or combination of partners. The Fund is
available to organisations in England, Scotland and Wales.
Why
is the government providing help?
Many
organisations in Britain have realised the potential of a
partnership approach to develop the productivity and job
satisfaction of the workforce and are now reaping the
rewards. But there are many others, not yet aware of the
benefits, which are falling behind through their failure to
adopt new ways of working.
The
Fund will be making more organisations aware of the benefits
of partnership by supporting projects to spread best
partnership practice more widely.
Other sites of interest
ACAS
Best
companies to work for
Employers
for Work-Life Balance
Employment
Relations Act
Enterprise
zone
Fit
for the Future
Involvement
and Participation Association
Management
Best Practice
National
Work-Life Forum
New
Ways to Work
Partnerships
with People
TUC
Partnership Institute
Working for
the Future
Work-Life
Balance Challenge Fund
UK
Work Organisation Network (UK WON)
