Latest news and updates from NAVCA's Local Commissioning and Procurement Unit. For more information about our work visit www.navca.org.uk/lcpu Our adviceline is open for enquiries on commissioning and procurement from workers in third sector Local Infrastructure Organisations (LIOs). The contact details are: lcpu@navca.org.uk or tel: 0114 289 3989
Rachel Rhodes, LCPU’s Commissioning and Procurement Adviser has written this article for the latest edition of Circulation, examining how quality systems and quality accreditation are scored in the selection or pre-qualification stage of a competitive tender process.
The Social Care Institute of Excellence (SCIE) has added ‘Personalisation briefing: Implications for voluntary sector providers’ to its series of ‘at a glance’ briefings on Personalisation.
Merged programme based on progress2work and progress2workLinkUP and the 2010 Problem Drug Users’ Employment and Support Pilots
Advance notice is given of forthcoming Pre Qualification Briefing Events.
DWP will be holding events for potential bidders at which information on the requirements of the contracts and the procurement process will be provided.
The dates and locations are as follows:
The events are open to suppliers wishing to be considered as prime contractors and also to smaller organisations who may wish to work with the prime contractor on a sub-contract basis.
Please note that the last date for bookings is 14 October 2009.
Tony Levene writes in today’s Society Guardian on “Outsourcing and the risk factor” including a Guardian roundtable debate which involved Katy Wing, NAVCA’s Director of Social Care & Health.
“There are both positive and negative aspects to outsourcing, the trick is to way up the balance before agreeing a contract. One thing is for certain, risk management should not be a box-ticking exercise”
As part of a package of support from Government to help maximise the social value the third sector creates, the Office of the Third Sector (OTS) has published three tailored guides, including one on commissioning, to Social Return on Investment (SROI), which supplement ‘A guide to Social Return on Investment’, published in May 2009.
For more information and to download copies of the guides, visit SROI UK.
The Scottish Government’s Third Sector Division is running a complementary project, which is responsibile for the development of a SROI portal and of new training materials for practitioners. For more information, visit the Scottish SROI project.
We are seeking Local Infrastructure Organisations (LIOs) who are interested in delivering our Tender Support Project to third sector organisations in their area.
What is the Tender Support Project?
The Project will run from October 2009 to the end of March 2011, providing high quality tender bidding support at the time a TSO is submitting a tender. This could include help with any or all of the following:
For more information read our Invitation to LIOs. The closing date for applications is midday on 6 October 2009.
The Tender Support Project is being delivered as part of the National Programme for Third Sector Commissioning. For enquiries please contact Pauline Kimantas at pauline.kimantas@navca.org.uk or phone 0114 289 3982.
OGC re-iterates that equivalent evidence and alternative standards should be accepted as alternatives to ISO 9000
We are seeking consultants who can provide high quality tender bidding support to third sector providers as part of NAVCA’s Tender Support Project.
The Project aims to improve the tender submissions of third sector organisations bidding to deliver public service contracts by providing individual guidance, advice and support on tender submissions. This will include tender suitability assessment, PQQ review, draft tender review, interview/presentation preparation.
To express your interest, please read the Expression of Interest document before completing and returning an application form by midday on 5 October 2009.
The NAVCA Tender Support Project is being delivered as part of the National Programme for Third Sector Commissioning.
Some recent resources and reports from the DH Care Networks Personalisation Toolkit:
This DH publication draws on learning from six local authorities who have begun to reshape their contracts, processes and relationships with the provider market around the provision of personalised services. The report includes key messages for commissioners and providers
The DH have funded NAAPS (a UK charity representing the interests of very small, community based service deliverers) to develop and test a business model for supporting and stimulating micro care and support services. Resources include a concise practical guide, a more detailed guide, and key messages for local authorities in supporting micromarket development
A report describing a simple six-stage process that uses person centred information (for example from service user reviews and support plans) to drive strategic change and commissioning.
This tool is designed to help councils, local people and other key stakeholders to
identify what brokerage resources are available in their community, to recognise where there might be gaps and to determine priorities for commissioning. This approach can contribute to the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment and its scope goes beyond health and social care, reflecting the fact that a full range of brokerage services should be universally available to all local people.
The DWP and the OTS are hosting two events for specialist and smaller organisations that are interested in getting involved in or increasing involvement in the supply of services for a range of Welfare to Work programmes.
The two events are on:
Places will be allocated on a first come first served basis.
