Increasingly, Local Authorities work with other disciplines or organisations in order to achieve results which are desirable for more than one body, and to generate economies of scale. This may involve a financial contribution from the other organisation, or the provision of in-kind resources, e.g. staff time, or venues for events.
From the wider road safety perspective, there are a number of other bodies that can make a valuable contribution, and joined up working can eliminate common duplication of effort, and result in a uniform message reaching the target audiences more consistently. It can also lead to efficiency in the pooling of resources in terms of finances and time.
Those you might want to look to for partnership working include:
- Local Authorities
- Police
- Fire and Rescue Service
- Ambulance service
- Health organisations
- Charities
- DfT's Think! Campaigns
- Local companies
- Community groups
- Highways England/Transport, Scotland/Welsh Government
- Probation service
In addition to external partners, there is often value in linking up with other departments internally. In local authorities, this could include planning, road maintenance, education, trading standards, school transport, social and children's services.
Partners may have other priorities than road safety, and so can lead to wider benefits as a result. For example:
- Joint working with health provision bodies to reduce drinking or drug taking, with benefits for both public health and road safety.
- Cycle training to get more people cycling more often, more safely. This would achieve both safety and sustainability benefits.
When preparing these kinds of campaigns or interventions, it is important to consider all the aims and objectives for all parties when planning the evaluation. All parties will need to agree on the aims and objectives which may require some negotiation.