Potential partnerships in crime prevention work and work with offenders could involve local community groups, voluntary organizations, volunteers from religious institutions, the probation service, the police, and many others. Although the term partnership has many meanings, since 1990 it is increasingly being used to describe more formalized relationships between probation services and the voluntary and private sectors. The Criminal Justice Act 1991 includes partnerships in its provisions. A target figure of 5 percent of annual probation revenues for use in partnerships with the private and voluntary sectors has been set. However, the scope for new strategic partnerships beyond the situational or service provision level appears to be very limited. Although creative local partnerships are emerging, the absence of any larger-scale and strategic local partnerships focusing on work with offenders and crime prevention already represents a lost opportunity for more significant actions. Important unresolved issues include the effectiveness and funding of partnerships and their capacity for local democratic accountability. Notes and 36 references