Context
Much of the work required for the strategic needs assessment phase of commissioning is now carried out by councils as part of their Local Area Agreements (LAAs). These are three-year agreements with priorities and outcomes identified by all of the main public sector agencies working in the area and with central government. They cover all services, not just those required by children, young people and families.
The agreed priorities and outcomes of the LAA help to shape the commissioning strategy required for services to children, young people and families. However, throughout all stages of the commissioning cycle - from the strategic needs assessment through to the monitoring and review phase - commissioners should now be seeking to secure the meaningful involvement of VCS organisations who can provide greater ‘voice' and ‘choice' by being:
- Locally sensitive and able to respond flexibly to the diverse needs of local communities and minority groups.
- Financially competitive, as their base costs are comparatively low and they plough any profits made back into the services provided.
- Particularly innovative and imaginative and be motivated to continuously evolve to better suit the individual needs of service users and carers.
- Able to contribute added value through access to wider community resources when providing additional preventative and ancilliary services.
- Well placed to help to independently represent the views of users and carers as appropriate.
Two particular national policy initiatives have been introduced to promote greater involvement of VCS organisations in public sector commissioning:
The 'Eight Principles' - the Office of the Third Sector has agreed a set of principles which it believes will improve commissioning in general and the experience of VCS organisations in particular.
The Compact Funding and Procurement Code of Good Practice - in 1998 central government entered into an agreement with the VCS known as ‘The Compact'. Most local authority areas now have a local compact agreement which provides the basis on which a council will work with VCS organisations. These documents often include agreed codes of practice and undertakings on both sides about communications, funding, procurement, consultation and policy appraisals.
The extent to which these initiatives have been successful in promoting a greater involvement of VCS organisations in commissioning is still unclear, although some recently commissioned research for Children Matter East is expected to provide a regional perspective on this (see Clear Expectations). Earlier research for the report Destinations Unknown suggested that much more needed to be done to improve VCS engagement in regional commissioning processes.
In tackling this and other challenges at a local level, the DCSF has launched a Commissioning Support Programme for Children's Trusts which aims to transform the commissioning of services for children, young people and families by Children's Trust partners and thus improve outcomes for these groups of people.
