Commissioning and procurement
Good commissioning and procurement of public services needs to be based on partnerships between commissioners, providers and service users which enable all parties to contribute their expertise and understanding of what outcomes those services can achieve.
A whole system approach will link analysis of need, development of commissioning strategies and plans, identification of appropriate procurement and contracting practices together in a learning cycle to ensure regular reviews of effectiveness. Pilots of “place-based budgeting”, where statutory bodies such as local authorities, health trusts and criminal justice system agencies have pooled their funding for local services, have found it creates significant opportunities to achieve more with less.
Housing related support commissioning has in many areas built up good partnership working practices. Where governance, commissioning and procurement of what was known as the Supporting People programme has become a mainstream local authority activity, there is a chance for this good practice to be shared and built on. Sitra will contribute to this learning and sign-posting to good practice wherever we can.
If you would like to contribute your experience, please contact Glynis Sampey at glyniss@sitra.org
Sitra Services
Recommissioning of housing support and care services presents many challenges for both commissioners and providers. Sitra can provide advice, support and training to help all involved ensure that the process delivers positive results for service users. We can offer anything from a full provider advisor consultancy on a large scale procurement process to half day briefings on selected subjects. Read more here.
Sitra's publication "A Provider's Guide to Procurement" can be downloaded here, or contact post@sitra.org to request a printed copy.
Sitra's response to the Modernising Commissioning Green Paper
The Green Paper, Modernising Commissioning: Increasing the role of charities, social enterprises, mutuals and cooperatives in public service delivery lays out the Government's plans for the modernisation of commissioning. It takes forward commitments made in The Coalition: our programme for government to ‘support the creation and expansion of mutuals, co-operatives, charities and social enterprises, and enable these groups to have a much greater involvement in the running of public services.
Governance, commissioning and procurement of housing related support: Report on Sitra survey of local authorities carried out September 2010
To share information on developments in this sector at a time of rapid change, Sitra carried out a snapshot survey of current local authority practice in the governance, commissioning and procurement of housing related support services.
fileadmin/sitra_user/2009/Policy/Commissioning_and_procurement/Report_on_Sitra_survey_of_local_authorities_191010.pdfDownload survey report (pdf)
Joint Strategic Needs Assessment
Each local authority has undertaken a Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) which will inform local commissioning decisions.
Good practice in joint commissioning
The CLG select committee on Supporting People heard evidence that the decision making and delivery structures that had been developed for Supporting People were so effective they should be considered as a blue print for partnership working in localities.
As part of their work gathering and examining information on commissioning structures and engagement with partners Sitra has identified a number of examples of joint commissioning.
