Third sector strategy needs a rethink

4 Oct 07
Ministers have not given sufficient thought to the practical consequences of involving more third sector organisations in the delivery of public services, commissioning experts have said.

05 October 2007

Ministers have not given sufficient thought to the practical consequences of involving more third sector organisations in the delivery of public services, commissioning experts have said.

Responding to the Department for Communities and Local Government's discussion paper on third sector strategy, the Commissioning Joint Committee criticised current policy as ill thought-out.

The CJC – an independent panel of experts sponsored by CIPFA – said it was sympathetic to the government's aim of involving the third sector more in public service delivery. But it found that little attention had been paid to how this could be achieved and what it will mean for existing providers.

The CJC chair, Will Werry, told Public Finance that commissioning and tendering arrangements did not favour third sector organisations, which were often too small to compete.

'But it's not the absence of a level playing field that stops them competing,' Werry said. 'What stops [small third sector bodies] is that most contracts are drawn up… in such a way as to make them attractive to big organisations.'

To overcome the problem, local authorities needed to repackage and advertise work in ways that favoured the third sector, he suggested. For example, a contract for drug rehabilitation services could specify that staff were themselves former drug users, a condition that would give a distinct advantage to a small charity-run project.

Doing so, however, would cut out a lot of contractors already delivering services, Werry warned. 'It's a huge change to make and a double-edged sword, and it's not faced at all,' he told PF.

'I've not seen a single word in any of the government's documents which acknowledges this shift. All they keep on saying is the shift isn't happening, and it must be because local authority staff need re-educating, which is insulting rubbish.'

The Audit Commission has identified poor commissioning as a barrier to greater third sector participation. Those authorities getting the best from their local third sector organisations were those that understood the needs of service users well and commissioned intelligently.

The DCLG's third sector strategy was published for discussion in June, setting out plans to work better with the sector and foster good partnerships on the ground.

PFoct2007

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