Memorandum from WCVA
INTRODUCTION
1. WCVA represents, campaigns for, supports
and develops voluntary organisations, community action, and volunteering
in Wales.
2. It represents the sector at a European,
UK, and national level, and together with a range of national
specialist agencies, county voluntary councils, and volunteer
bureaux, and other development agencies, it provides a support
structure for the third sector in Wales. It has over 2,000 members,
and is in touch with many more organisations through a wide range
of national and local networks.
3. The third sector's involvement in public
services has been the subject of extensive debate in Wales, particularly
in the light of the Assembly Government's Making the Connections
public service reform policy, and the independent review of local
services undertaken by Sir Jeremy Beecham.
4. This response to the Public Administration
Select Committee's inquiry into the Provision of Public Services
considers the sector's contribution to achieving more citizen-led
commissioning, as well as its contribution to service delivery.
It reflects WCVA wide consultation with the sector on this subject
in the light of the current public policy priorities in Wales,
and its recommendations to the Welsh Assembly Government.
COMMISSIONING—DECISION-MAKING
5. Sir Jeremy Beecham's Review of Local
Services in Wales emphasised in its recommendations the role of
the third sector in "championing the voice of citizens and
service users at every level".
6. The sector's involvement in commissioning
is critical. It is essential that there is challenge from a citizen
and service perspective in the processes to design services and
determining how and by whom they are delivered.
7. Current commissioning practice, however,
is ambiguous about the sector's involvement. There are some models
of good practice, where the sector is fully involved in joint
commissioning through pooled budgets.
8. But there are also arguments, including
in some Assembly Government guidance, that the sector cannot be
involved at all because some individual organisations are potential
service providers and therefore have a vested interest.
9. However, the involvement of statutory
bodies in commissioning that are also major service providers
(local authorities, health trusts, police, probation service)
is unquestioned. Moreover, far from providing a level playing
field, commissioning frequently adopts a twin-track approach of
short-term contracts and regular re-tendering exercises for "contracted-out"
services, and unquestioned ongoing funding for "in-house"
services.
10. It is unsurprising, therefore, that
current commissioning arrangements are seen as public sector provider-led
and unresponsive to citizens in the eyes of many service user
and carer organisations.
11. The sector does have an important role
in service provision, and Beecham has recommended that it has
a bigger role to play. But the majority of organisations are not
major public service providers. Their important contribution to
commissioning decisions, drawing upon their accountability to
citizens and communities at any level, is to champion the interests
of citizens, including service users and carers. Their experience
of the impact of delivery enables them to challenge current patterns
of delivery, and to contribute their expertise and experience
in citizen centred service design and delivery, drawing upon individual
and community resources, and responding to those who tend to be
excluded from traditional provision.
12. WCVA recommends that government provides
consistent guidance on commissioning public services that confirms
the expectation that:
— The third sector should be a full
and equal member of relevant commissioning bodies;
— the sector's representation should
provide a citizen perspective to commissioning processes;
— commissioning bodies should have
robust and transparent procedures in place to address any conflicts
of interest of any of the organisations involved in commissioning
process, whether they are statutory or third sector organisations.
COMMISSIONING—DESIGN
AND DELIVERY
13. Beecham has also identified the Government's
responsibility for "promoting and delivering a `level playing
field' which encourages a more mixed economy of provision"
in order to achieve more responsive and personalised services
for the citizen. Beecham also called for commissioning arrangements
that encourage collaboration rather than competition.
14. The Welsh Assembly Government's Strategic
Action Plan for the Voluntary Sector Scheme (currently subject
to consultation) argues that the third sector is in a particularly
strong position to provide front line services when:
— Users have multiple disadvantages,
requiring a coordinated portfolio of services from an informed
provider;
— the service needs to be directed
at sections of the community that have been excluded from traditional
service provision;
— the service is targeted at users
who are likely to mistrust businesses or state providers;
— the service is labour-intensive,
where the flexibility and commitment of volunteers can be an asset;
— the needs of service users are highly
variable;
— the quality of service required by
procurers is difficult to specify, measure and monitor; and
— where procurers are unsure of the
exact service required, and are seeking innovative proposals.
15. The Strategic Action Plan also recognises
that third sector delivery of public services can be achieved
through grants or procurement, and provides the following definitions:
Grants: funding that can be provided by the
Assembly Government and other public bodies as a means of offering
financial support to third sector organisations to enable them
to undertake activities they wish to support. Grants may be aimed
at assisting with the core costs of running and developing an
organisation or more specifically to help it carry out a particular
project or service. The grant giver is not contracting for a service
that forms part of its own business.
Procurement: the acquisition of goods and
services from third party suppliers under legally binding contractual
terms where all the conditions necessary to form a legal contract
have been met. Such acquisitions are for the direct benefit of
the contracting authority, necessary for the delivery of its service
or for the running of its own business.
16. Whilst procurement is increasingly becoming
the norm for the funding of local services, the use of grants
should still be considered, particularly where a public body is
inviting proposals for innovative approaches to tackling particular
needs, rather than tightly specifying a service it wishes to purchase.
Grants can provide a vehicle for a partnership and investment
approach, in line with Beecham's recommended collaborative rather
than competitive scenario.
17. However, where contracts are used, it
will be necessary to address the shortfalls in procurement processes
that have been highlighted in recent years. Particular barriers
are short-term funding, inappropriate balance of risk, pricing
systems that impede full cost recovery, and excessive monitoring
and evaluation requirements.
18. The Office of Government Commerce has
issued guidance to commissioning and procurement officers highlighting
the need for engagement with potential third sector providers
at all stages in the process in order to harness innovation and
best practice. It provides detailed and practical guidance on
engagement with the third sector at each of the following key
stages:
— When policy is first being formulated
(early supplier consultation);
— when programmes and strategies are
being shaped (seek supplier input in developing policy outcomes/outputs);
— during pre-procurement (better procurement
strategies);
— during tendering phase (better tender
documents);
— post contract (feedback, review and
continuous improvement).
19. There is also scope for developing service
and tender specification criteria that enable commissioners to
judge the extent to which potential providers can place the wider
interests of citizens/service users at the heart of their service,
and deliver wider and more sustainable benefits—for example,
through increasing community and service user participation in
service management and delivery, synergy with other services,
drawing on wider networks of formal and informal support, supporting
the personal development of service users, maximising local economic
and environmental impact.
20. The Strategic Action Plan includes the
proposal for the publication by Value Wales of a similar Third
Sector Charter, providing the opportunity to address these issues.
21. WCVA has supported the proposal for
a Third Sector Charter for commissioning services from the third
sector in Wales, to include:
— Guidance on the funding options open
to commissioners (grants, open competitive tendering, preferred
bidders) for supporting third sector service delivery, and the
circumstances in which each can be used;
— guidance on ensuring a level playing
field for potential providers in any sector;
— guidance on developing service specifications
and assessment criteria that include and measure citizen-centredness,
sustainability, additionality and local impact;
— an analysis of the circumstances
in which the third sector may be identified as the preferred provider
of particular types of services;
— guidance on full engagement with
potential providers at all stages;
— commitment to the principle of full
cost recovery;
— guidance on balancing risks between
provider and commissioner;
— guidance on appropriate monitoring
and evaluation.
May 2007
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