I have always believed in the power of collective action to drive change

Thinktank Demos recently highlighted the need to put collaboration and partnership at the centre of our ambitions for a fairer society.

Its report, Misson-Ready Nation: Enabling Mass Mobilisation Around National Missions, acknowledges that the scale of the challenges the country currently faces means we need to find new ways to deliver change. Mission-led government is at the heart of driving that change but Demos believes that, if we are to successfully harness the power of collective action, the emphasis should now transfer from purely government missions to shared national missions.

There is huge potential for this agenda to deliver long-term policy objectives by focusing on outcomes which can benefit everyone and drive opportunity. 

The report considers what it means for the country to be mission ready.

It advocates the mobilisation of different tiers of government, businesses, trade unions, civil society and the public to enable them to play a full part in a decade of national renewal and achieve the missions the Government has set out as its key priorities. Central government should adopt the role of mission stewardship; devolved, regional and local government should move towards mission collaboration; and leaders and organisations across businesses, trade unions and civil society should be engaged to enable reforms in areas such as procurement and social value.

There also needs to be a shift from citizen engagement to mobilisation. 

Change comes from building coalitions, and this has been a focus of our work at the Breaking Down Barriers Commision, which I chair as part of the wider Purpose Coalition.

Working with partners from business, NHS Trusts and the independent health and social care sector and universities, we focus on identifying the obstacles that prevent people and communities from accessing opportunity and developing workable solutions.

Our work is guided by 15 Purpose Goals which provide a framework across a comprehensive range of social and economic markers, against which organisations can benchmark their progress, highlighting initiatives that work well and are grounded in the needs of real-world communities and identifying where there are still gaps.

Goal 15: Working in partnership advocates tackling social challenges through strategic alliances with unions and citizens assemblies. 

Regular cross-party engagement, including through Westminster-based roundtables and webinars, encourages cooperation and action between partners.

We are building an evidence base of practical and innovative solutions and developing successful, collaborative projects between partners that are groundbreaking and boost opportunity.

Drawing on partners’ knowledge and expertise of their sectors and their local communities, we can address place-based issues with a shared vision of equality of opportunity.  

One partner, Serco, who with NCVO supported the Demos report, is using its expertise in private and public sector partnerships, as well as its wide geographic reach, to drive positive change, whether that is in its commitment to ex-offender employment or its encouragement of employees to participate in volunteer initiatives which support their local communities.

Its best practice, centred firmly on people, sets a fine example of collaboration in action. 

As someone with long experience of working in local government in the North East, I have seen the impact that place-based partnerships can have on traditionally left behind areas.

Continuing to work together - across party and sectors – and motivated by an ambition to do the right thing, we can break down the barriers to opportunity and create a more equitable and prosperous society.