VCSE delivery of public services and collaborative
models across sectors
Delivering public services for the digital age , Socitm conference 10th December
Michael O’Toole
Crown Representative for VCSEs
Strategic objectives for my role
• Open up more business to VCSE organisations, influence public
sector commissioning and procurement
• Build strategic dialogue between government and the VCSE sector
– Provide strong VCSE voice at the highest levels and communicate key
developments out
• Open up public sector business to VCSEs, by:
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Make it easier for more VCSEs to tender for public contracts – remove barriers
Decisive interventions on major commercial opportunities
Help VCSEs take services to the public sector market
Understand and develop VCSE skills and capacity to win and deliver public
service contracts
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VCSEs in public services market
Charities income £14.2bn from government
in 2011, 37% of total income to the sector...
37
%
he public sector income mix for VCSEs is changing;
income from contracts has increased at the same time
as grant income has decreased.
50% from local commissioning
45% Central Government / Health
5% European and International sources.
Grant
Income
£3.0
78% is contract income
22% is from grants
22%
£4.2
78%
Contract
Income
£4.4
£11.2
£7.9
£4.3
2000/01 2005/06
2010/11
Statutory contracts
Statutory grants
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VCSE advantages for public service buyers
• Core focus on beneficiaries – proximity to service users & voice,
good fit for outcome-focused service commissioning
– engagement with communities, especially harder to reach
– understand needs and local response to local problems
• Not-for-profit – may reduce cost, cultural fit with public sector &
helps focus on meeting customer needs
• Social action resource – mobilise volunteering & campaigns
• VCSEs inherently deliver positive social value – meet
commissioners’ needs re social value act
• Social purpose enables genuine open engagement, partnership
approach – flexibility to work in different models (collaboratives,
mutuals, etc) and creates options for co-design
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Key issues for VCSEs in commissioning
• Commissioning of public services in a tough economic
environment
.
• Commissioning
is often large scale, financially risky and complex –
expertise, financial scale, cash flow requirements
• Commissioning through contracting (subcontracting) may
represent rapid change – financial risk, shift from grant to contract
• Commissioners may not recognise the strengths of the VCSE offer
or understand their nature sufficiently well
• VCSEs may not have skills, governance, culture, access to
finance to succeed in this environment
– operating in a more commercial, competitive environment
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Overcoming potential obstacles to VCSEs
• Commissioning environment has changed rapidly & fiscal
pressure–
– genuine innovation with VCSEs playing part in service redesign/co-design,
demand prevention and new models (public/VCSE partnerships & mutuals)
– transparency (commissioning pipelines) & pre-market engagement
– capacity & capability building
• Commissioning for products and services is large scale –
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–
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lotting strategy
allow for new models of delivery (collaboration)
supply chain strategy & market stewardship
social financial role
• Commissioning for products and services is complex –
– simplification of procurement process
Overcoming potential obstacles to VCSEs
• VCSE engagement in commissioning
– be part of the conversation & understand policy and commissioning
intentions
– meet commissioners and ‘get on the radar’
– read and respond to policy consultations
– help commissioner shape their specification during informal pre-market
engagement
– Consider ‘new models’
Some Government initiatives & support
• Funding – Investment & Contract Readiness Fund, Social Action
Fund, Social Outcomes Fund
• Capability building – VCSE Commercial Masterclassess,
Commissioning Academy
• Transparency – Contracts Finder, pipelines, Supplier Feedback
Service
• Compact
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Thank-you
• Please follow me on Twitter:
otoole_michael
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