Commissioning and Market Development

1. Commissioning and Market Development The evolving landscape Benedict Arora Commissioning and Market Development

2. What is commissioning? • Four key stages • needs assessment • service design • procurement and contracting • reviewing and monitoring

3. Commissioning - from transaction to transformation • Helps to redesign services to focus on outcomes • Puts service users at the centre of process • Helps shift services away from traditional patterns of service provision, and traditional providers • Liberates local partners to champion the needs of children and families

4. Implications for local authorities and PCTs • Strategic leadership at EM, DCS and AD level • Information and data rich planning • Culture of openness to engage with services users and potential providers • Importance of partnership working, building on children’s trusts • Change patterns of service provision, including decommissioning services • Technical competence in managing potential provider base • Mixture of public, private and third sector providers

5. So what is the Department doing? Joining itself up better! Narrowing its focus to children, schools and families Machinery of government changes Respect Youth Justice Joint policy units Joining up policy on schools and children’s services Local authority as commissioner of schools pathfinders

6. National agenda • Convergence of DCSF, DH and CLG policy • Joint planning and commissioning framework • Local government white paper • Commissioning framework for health and well-being • Forthcoming guidance on place shaping and competition • Key themes • Citizen centred • Outcomes focused • Joint working/responsibility • Important potential role for Third Sector • Questions remain • LA/PCT/schools/PBC “fit”

7. What are we doing? Support and case studies • Building capacity though the • Centre for Procurement • Performance • Peer-to-peer commissioning • support • Commissioning case studies

8. What are we doing? Practice guidance • Providing practical, focused • guidance • Publication of practice guidance • on joint funding • Sets out key steps to creating • aligned or pooled funds

9. What are we doing? Regional support for commissioners • Five regional commissioning pilots • and one cross regional • commissioning pilot about • to get underway • Will test regional commissioning • for children in care

10. Where are we heading? Legal reforms and commissioning • Nearly one third of children in care are placed outside their authority’s boundary • Bill will also contain a provision to reduce the use of out-of-authority placements • Such placements should only be used in response to a child’s particular needs and not because of a lack of local capacity

11. So what is the Department doing? Forthcoming research projects • DCSF intends to develop a survey of children’s services providers • Interviews with up to 5,000 providers (public, private and VCS) • Quantitative data e.g. staff numbers and qualitative data e.g. views and perceptions

12. What are we doing? Standard contracts • Local authorities commission • services for children from • a mixed market. • Wide variety of contracting • arrangements • Potential for efficiencies and spread of • good practice • National special schools contract published in May • Residential care contract imminent • IFA and leaving care to follow

13. Questions? Ben.arora@dcsf.gsi.gov.uk www.everychildmatters.gov.uk