Ruth Driscoll

National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO)

Realising the potential of VCS

partnerships to improve public sector

outcomes at local level

What is the voluntary sector?

Charity deserts?

• Knowledge of local communities, their needs and how to meet

them.

• Expertise in delivering holistic, personalised services for people

with complex needs.

• Value for money through preventative focus and social value

operating model.

Improving outcomes by shaping and

delivering services

Pre-procurement dialogue

Assess the population’s

needs

Consider service design

Understand and develop the supplier

base

Engaging with the supplier market to::

= high quality services

Case study 1

Connected Care model of community-led commissioning

Communities involved in the

design and delivery of services

Services are more efficient = significant net benefit to the public purse

For every £1 invested a

return of £4.44 was achieved

When quality of life is

accounted for: £14.07 for every £1 invested

PQQs and ITTs

13 out of 35 respondents to a recent NCVO survey said they spend more than four weeks per year completing PQQs and tenders

31 out of 46 said the bureaucracy of procurement procedures and paperwork has prevented their organisation from bidding for work

One respondent noted how they had to complete tender documentation 102 pages long

A youth association applying to be added to a Framework of suppliers had to complete a 49 page PQQ and 99 page full tender, before being told they were unsuccessful

An organisation applying for a £10k grant for arts activity was asked to produce their latest AGM board minutes and explain what is already allocated within their reserves of

£4m

Income sources

2000 – 2012

(£ billions, real

terms)

Funding to the voluntary sector

Source: UK Civil Society Almanac 2014

Contracts replacing grants

The significance of small

Contracts getting larger

= fewer charities

able to bid

Diminution of local

knowledge and

expertise!

Grants and service contracts in the mix

Healthy market of service provision

Grants

may be the most appropriate way of funding charities to deliver services at a local level – particularly if the

service is niche, small scale and/or innovative

Service contract

may be more appropriate where the commissioner wants the provider to

fulfil a detailed specification

Commissioning for social value

A recent survey by Compact Voice found that almost 90 percent

of voluntary sector respondents believe that public bodies

focus on lower cost rather than social

value when funding

The value of volunteering

Proportion of people

formally

volunteering, 2001 –

2012/13 (% of

respondents)

Local economic value

UK voluntary organisations spend around £17.7bn on

goods and services each year -similar to the NHS’s spending

power

UK voluntary organisations employ 793,000 people, around

2.7% UK workforce

75% have local focus and contribute to local economic

growth by attracting investment, creating local jobs and spending

on local goods and services

Case study 2

Blue Sky Development

delivers ground maintenance and

recycling contracts for public bodies

Only employs people who have recently come out of prison,

enabling them to into long-term employment

and reducing the likelihood of reoffending

One prison place costs

approximately £41,000 per year =

Blue Sky is potentially saving millions of pounds to the public purse

49% of Blue Sky’s employees have

gone on to further employment

• Strengthen political leadership and ‘buy in’ for VCS partnerships at all levels inc procurement and finance, and elected members

• Launch and maintain a regular and strategic dialogue with the voluntary sector e.g. using Compact or local umbrella body

• Involve local organisations in identifying local priorities, designing services, and M&E

• Support voluntary organisations to compete for contracts e.g. meet the commissioner days, publicity through local CVS

• Keep ITTs and other requirements proportionate to size and complexity of contract or grant

• Choose the most appropriate funding model for the job: Funding mix should include grants and service contracts, not just large PBR contracts

Tips for realising the potential of the

voluntary sector to improve outcomes