Community Right to Challenge

1. Community Right to Challenge Neil Coulson

2. Localism Act • Community Right to Challenge • Community Right to Bid • Community Right to Build

3. Community Right to Challenge (CRtC) Right for community organisations (and others) to submit an expression of interest to take over the running of services of local authority and fire and rescue authorities (‘relevant authorities’)

4. Who can use CRtC? • VCS • Parish Councils • 2 or more LA employees (‘relevant bodies’)

5. Rationale • Could deliver services better or cheaper • Make services more responsive to local needs • Offer additional social value • Deliver better value for money

6. How and when? • Submit Expression of Interest • Any time, but LA may operate with a CRtC ‘window’ – specified period (must publish this)

7. What’s excluded (permanently) • Individual packages of services for continuing health and social care for named individuals with complex needs, provided/commissioned by a local authority or NHS body (or jointly) • Services which are commissioned and managed by individuals or their representatives using direct payments

8. What’s excluded (until April 2014) Services commissioned by a relevant authority in conjunction with one or more health services, or by an NHS body acting on behalf of a relevant authority

9. Expression of Interest • Financial strength of the relevant body • Provider delivery capability • What services and which geographical area • Projected outcomes – social value • Consortium – supply chain financial strength and delivery capability

10. Grounds for rejection • Does not include all the required information, or information is inadequate or inaccurate • Unsuitable provider • Frivolous or vexatious

11. What happens if accepted • Procurement exercise

12. CRtC: Opportunities & Benefits • New, more cost-effective and impactful ways of delivering public services • Potential for new, more positive relationships between the different sectors – public, voluntary and private • Driving innovation

13. CRtC: Risks & Challenges • Use of CRtC, if unstructured and arbitrary, creates a climate of strife and contention • Resultant open and competitive tender is won by non-locally based, purely profit-driven private company -> potential deterioration in service outcomes • Local VCS does not think through all of the strategic, financial and operational risks associated with contract delivery, e.g. TUPE implications, costs etc.

14. Danger ‘Private sector transmutation’

15. Solution? Strategic, co-ordinated and structured approach by the VCS to the implementation of CRtC locally

16. VCS ‘Portfolio Holder’ for CRtC First point of referral in the sector for any VCS agency considering making a challenge

17. Portfolio Holder Functions • Work with the VCS organisation(s) to broker meetings with the relevant LA staff (possibly liaising with a similar ‘portfolio holder’ in LA, if that were feasible) • Do some initial, rudimentary feasibility testing with the organisation(s) • Support the organisation(s) to submit a bid for CRtC pre-feasibility/feasibility grant funding, where appropriate

18. Functions…cont • Potentially bring in other providers to explore a wider partnership approach to the challenge/Expression of Interest • Trouble-shoot any issues that arise, working in partnership with LA • Front any resultant CRtC Expression of Interest • Ultimately, function as the bidding and contract management vehicle