Best Practice and Outcomes
It is essential that all VCS members of Children Matter East understand fully how local commissioning processes work and the contribution they can make to them. The earlier pages in this section of the website have provided a general outline of how strategic commissioning works. Further detail and guidance on best practice is set out under the headings below:
General Good Practice Guidance
Love My Tender - superb, newly released Children England support for smaller organisations that work with children and young people who may be thinking about tendering to commissioned services
Table of Contents
Background
Are you ready to tender
Preparing your tender
Things to keep in mind
Glossary
Calculating your unit cost
Should you tender decision tree
Are you ready to tender checklist
Should you tender checklist
Five steps to risk assessment
Commissioning Support Programme
Commissioning Support Programme Bulletin July 09 download here...
The Every Child Matters website contains a wealth of useful material on joint planning and commissioning (http://www.everychildmatters.co.uk/strategy/planningandcommissioning/). Some other documents that you may find helpful are:
Debates and Dilemmas: Commissioning Children and Young People's Services, IDeA, 2007 
Effective Practice in Commissioning Children's Services, PA Consulting Group, 2007
Hearts and Minds: Commissioning from the Voluntary Sector, Audit Commission, 2007
Securing Better Health for Children and Young People Through World Class Commissioning, DCSF/DoH, 2009
Improving the Engagement of VCS Organisations in Commissioning
Evaluation of the National Programme for Third Sector Commissioning, Cabinet Office/IDeA, 2008
Every Organisation Matters: Mapping the Children and Young People's VCS, Speaking Out, 2008
Partnership in Public Services: An Action Plan for Third Sector Involvement, Cabinet Office, 2006
The Future of Commissioning: Leadership Challenges, ACEVO/Futurebuilders England, 2007
Joint Commissioning
Joint Planning and Commissioning Framework for Children, Young People and Maternity Services, DfES/DoH, 2006
Joint Planning, Joint Commissioning and Budget Pooling in Children's Trust Settings, National Children's Bureau, April 2006
Improving Outcomes
Every Child Matters Outcomes Framework, DCSF, 2008
Narrowing the Gap in Outcomes (DCSF funded project), DCSF/LGA/IDeA, 2007
Funding Strategies
Better Outcomes for Children's Services Through Joint Funding (Best Practice Guide), DoH, 2007
Fruitful Funding: A Guide to Levels of Engagement, National Council for Voluntary Organisations, 2007
The Grantmaking Tango: Issues for Funders, The Baring Foundation, 2004
Children England has recently released the report Small Change which provides a survey of small VCS organisations working with children, young people and their families.
Please click here to open up a copy of the report:
Small Change Report
Clear Expectations - a report by Matt Buttery of the Family Matters Institute and commissioned by Children Matter East.
Clear Expectations
