Good commissioning can transform public services, create savings and develop sustainable and more local provision. So how can organisations make this happen?
A couple of years ago I feared that the progress made with good commissioning would be lost, and replaced by short-termism and knee jerk cuts. There has been some of that, of course, but it is cheering to see a strong emphasis on commissioning in many places, from the Cabinet Office’s Commissioning Academy to many local councils and the confidently emerging clinical commissioning groups.
By commissioning, I don’t just mean the skills of those with a ‘commissioner’ job title, I mean organisations that recognise commissioning isn’t just something done by commissioners, or indeed by a few of the leadership team. A commissioning organisation has to have a common mindset that runs throughout the organisation and its associated partnerships.
A lot has been written acknowledging the potential of good commissioning to transform public services and make savings while sustaining or improving outcomes. But good commissioning can also do much more, helping to unlock the capacity of users and communities and to develop sustainable (often more local) provider markets.
The question then is how can organisations achieve this, and quickly. From the Office for Public Management’s work on whole-system commissioning we know that there are some key principles organisations need to bear in mind. Here are five to start with:
- Commissioning is about making good decisions. The processes for analysing needs and looking at options for change and innovation are important, but only if they lead to better decisions. This involves getting the governance of commissioning right (right people, right time and the courage to make and stick to difficult decisions), and preparedness to question the position of in-house providers.
- All staff should understand their roles as part of a commissioning organisation. At a minimum, everyone in an organisation can contribute to two key commissioning behaviours: being outward looking to communities and service user groups; and contributing to the generation and effective use of evidence.
- You have to work to get the providers you want. Many commissioning organisations recognise the value of more diverse provider markets (private, voluntary, SME, mutuals etc) and growing numbers are beginning to use the Public Services (Social Value) Act to get the mix of outcomes they seek locally. To shape markets, organisations need to be braver and more honest about communicating their vision for services and budget positions, and be prepared to listen to and talk with providers to develop new capacities and alliances.
- Commissioning is about joins between services. Commissioning an isolated service should be a simple exercise. But this is rarely the point: we need to commission together with partners and commission from a local system, and do so in ways that enable earlier interventions, integration of services and smoother pathways. That requires shared commissioning policies and a whole-system view of commissioning programmes.
- We have to use more levers. As noted in the recent OPM public interest seminar on Achieving the Best of Both Worlds, there are many commercial skills that are relevant to good commissioning and can be deployed within a values-based public services system. And while the private sector often has more options for raising finance, public services can do more to access resources, use new funding models to support early intervention, and to measure and showcase the social and economic value generated by public services.
Hilary Thompson is chief executive of the Office for Public Management
