Local Partnerships in the United Kingdom for the New Opportunities for PE and Sport Programme: A Policy Network Analysis

This paper examines local partnerships involved in the New Opportunities for PE and Sport programme, a national programme funding improvements in PE and sport facilities in the United Kingdom. Policy network frameworks, developed by Marsh & Rhodes (1992) and Marsh & Smith (2000), were used to analyse the form of partnerships and their associated policy processes. In doing so, the paper attempts to both demonstrate the utility of the concept of policy networks in analysing partnerships and further understanding of the effect of partnerships on policy development. Empirically, three types of partnership were identified in the ten local authority cases that comprised this study. Each type of partnership enacted a specific type of policy process and the resultant policy outcomes reflected these different processes. The resulting analysis examines the relationships between policy and factors internal and external to the partnerships examined. In turn, suggestions are made for future development of the policy network concept.