Commissioning Improvement Programme

Despite the policy directives, good practice guides, training courses and conferences over the past decade, there is still a misunderstanding in many quarters about commissioning, particularly the role that the voluntary sector has to play within the pre and post-procurement areas of the commissioning cycle.
 
To address this, IVAR has developed a programme aimed at improving the understanding of commissioning by public agencies of voluntary organisations at a local level. The aim of the programme is to help local partners to overcome some of the barriers to working in partnership, in order to make better and more efficient use of resources and to achieve the desired outcomes for local communities. This programme is part of the wider National Programme for Third Sector Commissioning.
 
The focus of the IVAR programme will be on commissioning from small and medium sized local third sector organisations, since there is evidence that poor commissioning practices can undermine the distinctive and important contribution of these organisations to meeting the needs of local people.
 
The programme
 
Participants in the programme will be lead commissioners from local public agencies, including the local authority, primary care trust, Department for Work and Pensions, probation, supporting people and other key local commissioners, and the relevant representatives from the local third sector.
 
Building on the approach developed through the successful IDeA/IVAR ‘Partnership Improvement Programme’, programme facilitators will work intensively with groups from five different local authorities to identify and address barriers to effective commissioning. Together, commissioners and providers will examine and build the case for commissioning from the third sector organisations and will develop a locally agreed route to achieving effective commissioning.
 
The legacy of the programme will be new, improved relationships between commissioners and providers, laying the foundations for better commissioning at all stages of the commissioning cycle.
 
The outputs from the programme will be local action plans for each participating area and a consolidated report by March 2011 on the learning from across the five areas taking part in the programme.
 
It is intended that the key outcomes should be action to improve commissioning from the third voluntary and improved relationships and understanding between commissioners and providers.
 
Targeted Support Fund
 
A second phase of the programme is focused on 12 Targeted Support Fund areas (as identified by the Office for the Third Sector). In broad terms the programme will consist of attendance at local diagnostic session with LSP and voluntary sector partners. At the diagnostic session a local improvement plan aimed at addressing a specific issue regarding commissioning in each area will be developed (with up to £25,000 funding provided for activity). There will be ongoing support for implementation and a progress review meeting in June. The programme will conclude with a final a review session sometime in September 2010 to assess how the project has gone and what impact there has been as a result of the Commissioning Improvement Programme.  
  
For more information about the project contact Gordon McCullough (gordon@ivar.org.uk).
 
To find out more about Phase 2 of the National Programme for Third Sector Commissioning (NPTSC) contact Helen Hughes (helen.hughes@idea.gov.uk).
 

To view the brochure outlining Phase 2 of the NPTSC click here.