Central government should set a better example by making its own departments and agencies more 'joined-up', according to research from the University of Glasgow for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

The study by Professor Alan McGregor and his colleagues highlights a series of barriers at national and local level that stand in the way of more integrated working between area regeneration programmes and wider initiatives, such as 'welfare to work' schemes that target individuals.

The report, based on nine case study areas in the UK, identifies a series of practical steps that could be taken to promote better joint working.

At a national level, the report suggests that the Government could become more 'joined-up' at the centre. In particular, departments could rationalise their differing performance monitoring and auditing requirements that place unnecessary burdens on local partnerships.

National initiatives could allow greater discretion to those responsible for delivering front-line services to adapt to local circumstances and priorities. Increased local flexibility announced in this year's Budget for the Jobcentre Plus programme is a move in this direction.

Departments and initiatives could set joint targets for promoting social inclusion and make organisations jointly responsible for meeting them and the skills needed for joint working could be given priority in training and development programmes for staff.

Professor McGregor said: "National government has a key role to play in developing more effective joint working by requiring its own departments to work together more closely in a transparent way. But the greatest contribution it could probably make would be to stop the introduction of new initiatives and its constant tinkering with the rules for existing programmes so that local organisations and local staff working for national agencies have the time to build stable, working relationships with each other."

In terms of local action, the report suggests that a regular exchange of up-to-date information between local organisations involved in area regeneration and those tackling wider social exclusion would improve communication and help prevent duplication and mistrust.

In addition, overlapping board membership for different initiatives would help to spread knowledge about other organisations and promote joint working and greater operational integration could be achieved through staff secondments between organisations, shared premises and joint training arrangements.

Professor McGregor said: "Successful joint working is difficult enough given the complexity of social exclusion in many areas, variations in targets and timescales and the different organisational cultures that exist. Most partnerships also place significant demands on staff time in their member organisations.

"That makes it all the more vital that local energies are not diluted or dispersed by excessive demands imposed by government from above or by needless misunderstandings or duplication of effort at the local level."

He added: "Our fieldwork in nine different areas of the UK uncovered many positive examples of operational integration between agencies that were prepared to share information, premises, staff and even their clients. But the barriers to joined-up working remain formidable and there is much that still needs to be done to overcome them."

Media Relations Office (media@gla.ac.uk)

Developing people? regenerating place: Achieving greater integration for local area regeneration - Alan McGregor, Andrea Glass, Kevin Higgins, Lynne McDougall and Victoria Sutherland is published for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation by The Policy Press and available from Marston Book Services, PO Box 269, Abingdon, Oxon. OX14 4YN (01235 465500) price ?11.95 plus ?2.75 p&p.

A summary of findings is available free of charge from JRF, The Homestead, 40 Water End, York Y030 6WP or from www.jrf.org.uk.

Fieldwork for the research was carried out in Autumn 2001 in Birmingham, Brighton, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Middlesborough, Nottingham and the London Borough of Southwark

For further information contact:

Prof Alan McGregor (author) 0141 330 5128

University of Glasgow Press Office 0141 330 3535 / 3683

First published: 17 July 2003