Welcome
Working within the
Goverment's procurement policy guidelines and the EC rules, there
is a great deal which can be done by public sector organisations
to encourage more participation by the Voluntary and Community Sector
in the successful delivery of service contracts.
Delegates will learn
how strategic commissioning fits within place shaping, how to embed
the eight principles of good commissioning within the commissioning
cycle, how to involve the Third Sector in service delivery and procurement
strategy, and how others have successfully engaged with the Third
Sector.
Third Sector' is a term
used to describe a variety of institutions which sit between the
state and the private sector, and which are well placed to deliver
key public services because of their resourcefulness, community
links, specialist knowledge, and commitment to the Governments public
services agenda.
They have an enormous amount to contribute to public services, both
in the ways they are designed and delivered and in the ways they
are improved and held to account.
The involvement of the Third Sector in delivery is not, however,
about the public sector abdicating its responsibilities; rather,
it is about ensuring Third Sector participation in shaping services,
competing for and calling the public sector to account on service
delivery.
Many Third Sector bodies already work successfully within the public
sector marketplace and there are significant areas of public service
delivery where the Government is opening up opportunities for the
Third Sector.
National Programme for Third Sector Commissioning
The Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) is managing theNational
Programme for Third Sector Commissioning The programme is a critical
strand ofPartnership in Public Services: an action plan for Third
Sector involvement
The programme will operate in conjunction with existing training
and support for commissioners.
The five outcomes of the programme are:
- coordinated
specialist guidance and support on commissioning services from
the Third Sector
- increased
understanding of the Third Sector among commissioning and procurement
officers
- provision
of awareness training for councillors and public sector officers
on the benefits of Third Sector involvement in the shaping and
delivery of public services
- provision
of awareness and skills training for the most significant 2000
commissioners concerned with correctional services, employment
services, childrens services, education and training, health and
social care services, and other local services
- improved
Third Sector bidding capacity, particularly among smaller organisations
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