Third sector commissioning & Procurement

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19th Annual IPSERA Conference, F inland, May 2010 1 Third sector commissioning & English local government procurement J. Gordon Murray PhD

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Third sector commissioning and English local government procurement. Forthcoming in Public Money and Management

Transcript of Third sector commissioning & Procurement

Page 1: Third sector commissioning & Procurement

19th Annual IPSERA Conference, Finland, May 2010

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Third sector commissioning &

English local government procurement

J. Gordon Murray PhD

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19th Annual IPSERA Conference, Finland, May 2010

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CommissioningBenefits

& Barriers

ThirdSector

Policy commitmentsto overcome

barriers

Researchmethod

Findings,conclusions

& implications

Scope of paper

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Strategic needs assessment

Decide priorities and outcomes

Plan and design services

Optional appraisal

Sourcing

Delivery

Monitor and review

The commissioning

cycle

The commissioning cycle

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Strategic needs assessment

Decide priorities and outcomes

Plan and design services

Optional appraisalSourcing

Delivery

Monitor and review

The commissioning

cycle

The commissioning and purchasing cycles, and procurement

Determine the need

Supplier selection

Contracting

Ordering

Expediting

Follow-up/evaluation

The purchasing

cycle

procurement

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THIRD SECTOR

Voluntary &Community

Organisations

Charities

Mutuals Cooperatives

Social Enterprises

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Specialist knowledge, expertise

& skills

Ability to spot emerging trends

Involving people in service delivery

Independence

Reach hard-to-reach

Freedom from intuitional pressures

……..

Benefits of Third Sector

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Common barriers

Short-term funding Excessive risk

placed on providers Unrealistic prices Excessive burdens of

monitoring and evaluation

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Commitments to overcome barriers

The Compact Small Business

Friendly Concordat Eight principles of good

commissioning

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The Compact

FCR legitimate

Proportionate

information requests

Advance payments when appropriate

Longer-term funding

Proportionate monitoringSufficient termination notice

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Small Business Friendly Concordat

Sound options

Appraisal

Simple

tender processes

Pay on time (30 days)Ensure

sub-contractors pay

within 30 days

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Eight principles of good commissioning

Engage with third sector in understanding needs

User outcomes at heart

Consult providers to set priority outcomes

Map providers

Invest in market development

Fair & transparent contracting

Long-term contracts & risk sharing

Seek feedback in review

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A tapestry of commitments

FCR legitimate

Proportionate

information requests

Advance payments when appropriate

Longer-term funding

Proportionate monitoringSufficient termination notice

Sound options

appraisal

Simple

tender processes

Pay on time (30 days)Ensure

sub-contractors pay

within 30 days

Engage with third sector in understanding needs

User outcomes at heart

Consult providers to set priority outcomes

Map providers

Invest in market development

Fair & transparent contracting

Long-term contracts & risk sharing

Seek feedback in review

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Research questions

1. Do procurement managers view procurement & commissioning as different?

2. What is the level of awareness of the third sector commissioning policy commitments?

3. Are the policy commitments embedded in procurement policy, strategy, procedures and performance management?

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Research approach

ExploratoryWeb-based(but 4 hour

window)

12% response Lead

practitioners‘single & upper tier’

3,000 potential

respondents

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53%

47%

Yes

No

Are procurement and commissioning just different names for the same thing?

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Are procurement & commissioning the same thing?

Commissioning is fundamentally about specifying the services/outcomes desired. Procurement is fundamentally about ensuring that those services/outcomes are delivered…

They are the same if procurement is defined as the process from identification of need through to disposal of asset or decommissioning of service. Commissioning focuses on the identification of need.

Commissioning & purchasing are both aspects of procurement. They are the same process – each has its own processes within the overall procurement framework…

It’s not helpful to have different phrases for what essentially are the same process, yes, in reality there are differences but not significant enough to warrant a ‘my approach is better than yours’ attitude.

My qualification is 'purchase and supply' it's the government that seem to need to waste time and money faffing with different names.

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English council procurement leads engagement

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

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Compact Code 2 0 16 2 6 3 1

Concordat (L gov't only) 1 1 15 5 6 4 2

8 Principles 0 3 15 3 1 2 1

Unaware of them

Aware of them but

not in detail

Working awareness

of it

Embedded in

procuremen

Embedded in

procuremen

Embeded in procedures

Embedded in

performance

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Conclusions

1. Procurement is a policy tool in third sector commissioning2. Practitioners acknowledge room for improvement in all aspects

of commissioning cycle3. Misunderstandings on difference between procurement and

commissioning4. % Compact Code Breaches on Funding & Procurement rising5. Most lead practitioners claim to have a working awareness of

the policy commitments6. Lack of embedding in Compact Code, Small Business Friendly

Concordat and 8 Principles in policy, strategy, procedures, and performance management

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Implications

Practitioners Need to have a sound grasp of differences between commissioning

and procurement as presented by UK Government policy Awareness of policy commitments is necessary but not sufficient Need to embed in procurement policy, strategy, procedures and

performance management Research

Test the findings of this exploratory research Comparative impact assessment of the improvement in public

services as a result of embedding policy Consider the effectiveness of eNewsletters as a research tool Establish the effectiveness of cascading policy to practice in general Is procurement ‘the weakest link’ in third sector commissioning?

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Third sector commissioning &

English local government procurement

Published in ‘Public Money & Management’

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