Local Commissioning and Procurement News

Free nationwide contract searches

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:30:56 +0000

Supply2gov, the portal that advertises lower-value contracts, has introduced free nationwide searches. Previously the free search function was limited to a local location.

Visit the Supply2gov website

Support for commissioners and providers - victims of violence and domestic violence services

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 17:10:35 +0000

Support for commissioners and providers - victims of violence and domestic violence services:

A new web page is available to support commissioning of services for women and girls who are victims of violence. Although it is aimed at commissioners, the policy documents, service standards and links to other data will be of use for providers of these services.

Commissioning services for women and girls who are victims of violence

The Department of Health have published a practical toolkit providing information around children and domestic violence. It includes, among other things; key fact sheets, policy and legislation and an overview of Every Child Matters and should be of use to all service providers, not just the frontline health professionals it is aimed at.

Download the toolkit

NAVCA announces LIO delivery partners for the Tender Support Project

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 15:54:08 +0000

NAVCA announces LIO delivery partners for the Tender Support Project:

We’re pleased to announce the nine local infrastructure organisations (LIOs) that we will be working with to deliver the Tender Support Project:

Community First for Portsmouth

fit4funding

GAVCA

GMCVO

Tameside Third Sector Coalition

The Alliance, Herefordshire

Voluntary Action North East Lincolnshire

Voluntary Norfolk

Voscur

More information about the Tender Support Project.

The Tender Support Project is part of the National Programme for Third Sector Commissioning.

Real accountability: guidance on the NHS duty to report on consultation

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:38:59 +0000

Real accountability: guidance on the NHS duty to report on consultation:

New legislation will come into force in April 2010. The NHS duty to report on consultations will require all PCTs and SHAs that commission services to explain how they have acted upon feedback from patients and the public. ‘Real Accountability’ aims to help the NHS get ready for the legislation. The guidance explains the legal obligations and provides practical help and advice in terms of preparing and publishing reports.

Download the guidance

Details of the next Procurement Champions event: 2 December, London

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:57:19 +0000

Details of the next Procurement Champions event: 2 December, London:

Details of the next Procurement Champions event have been accounced:

2 December 2009
London (exact venue tbc)
Price: £20

Speakers will include:

Matthew Pike - Chair of the ACEVO Personalisation Commission, Chair of Social Capital and a Fellow at the Young Foundation.
Jo Clapham - Voluntary Norfolk.
Helen Allen - Small Community Services Project Coordinator, NAAPS.
Mark Finch - Choice Support and Transport, Oldham.

More information including how to book is available on the ACEVO website.

New publication - Pathways through the maze: a guide to procurement law

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:16:22 +0000

New publication - Pathways through the maze: a guide to procurement law:

NAVCA and NCVO have jointly published Pathways Through the Maze, the first comprehensive guide to procurement regulations written for voluntary organisations and community groups.

The Guide answers the most common questions voluntary and community organisations have about procurement processes and explains the legal requirements applying to public bodies’ procurement exercises

Pathways Through the Maze is essential reading for:

Anyone in an infrastructure organisation who works with commissioning, procurement and public services.
All voluntary organisations, community groups and social enterprises interest or involved in delivering public services.
Public Sector commissioners wanting to improve their engagement with third sector organisations.

All NAVCA members will be sent a free hard copy and you can download an electronic copy below.

Download Pathways through the maze: A Guide to Procurement Law (PDF, 1.24MB)

In praise of intelligent commissioning

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:07:05 +0000

In praise of intelligent commissioning:

Today’s Guardian Public has an article by Katy Wing, NAVCA’s Director of Local Services Partnerships.

- In praise of intelligent commissioning

Do we need ISO 9001?

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:35:00 +0100

Do we need ISO 9001?:

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.

Download the article (PDF 99KB)

Personalisation briefing from SCIE

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:01:48 +0100

Personalisation briefing from SCIE:

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.

Read more on the SCIE website

DWP: Advance notice of forthcoming Pre Qualification Briefing Events

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:28:16 +0100

DWP: Advance notice of forthcoming Pre Qualification Briefing Events:

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:

Tuesday 20 October - London
Wednesday 21 October - Cardiff
Thursday 22 October - Glasgow

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.

More information and book your place on the DWP website.

Please note that the last date for bookings is 14 October 2009.

Society Guardian: Outsourcing and the risk factor

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:05:22 +0100

Society Guardian: Outsourcing and the risk factor:

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”

Read more on the Guardian Website

Social Return on Investment supplementary guides published

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 15:54:05 +0100

Social Return on Investment supplementary guides published:

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.

Invitation to LIOs: Tender Support Project

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:42:46 +0100

Invitation to LIOs: Tender Support 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:

assessing tender suitability;
checking pre-qualification questionnaires;
polishing draft tender submissions;
preparing for interviews/presentation with evaluation panels.

For more information read our Invitation to LIOs. The closing date for applications is midday on 6 October 2009.

Invitation to LIOs (PDF, 72KB)
Application form (Word, 101KB)

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 on ISO 9000

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 16:36:25 +0100

OGC on ISO 9000:

OGC re-iterates that equivalent evidence and alternative standards should be accepted as alternatives to ISO 9000

Read more via the OGC website

Expression of Interest: Approved Providers List for NAVCA's Tender Support Project

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 15:02:12 +0100

Expression of Interest: Approved Providers List for NAVCA's Tender Support Project:

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.

Expression of Interest (Word 114KB)
Application form (Word 156KB)

The NAVCA Tender Support Project is being delivered as part of the National Programme for Third Sector Commissioning.

Personalisation Updates

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:25:00 +0100

Personalisation Updates:

Some recent resources and reports from the DH Care Networks Personalisation Toolkit:

Contracting for personalised outcomes: learning from emerging practice

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

Download the publication

Supporting micromarket development

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

Concise practical guide

Detailed guide

Key messages

Working together for change: using person centred information for commissioning

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.

Download the report

Commissioning for support planning and brokerage: a resource tool

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 resource tool

Welfare to Work Sub-contractor events

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 11:09:36 +0100

Welfare to Work Sub-contractor events:

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:

Tuesday 8th September at Newcastle Football Club; and
Wednesday 9th September at London Park Plaza Riverbank, Albert Embankment.

Places will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

More information and booking details

NAVCA named as a delivery partner for National Programme for Third Sector Commissioning

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:28:00 +0100

NAVCA named as a delivery partner for National Programme for Third Sector Commissioning:

IDeA has been awarded the contract for the second phase of the National Programme for Third Sector Commissioning by the Office of the Third Sector (OTS) and they have recruited third sector partners, including NAVCA, to help deliver the programme.

The programme runs until March 2011 and will improve the contribution of third sector organisations to the design and delivery of public services. The programme will also develop the commissioning skills and bidding capacity of third sector organisations.

As a delivery partner NAVCA, through its members, will provide direct support with tenders to 150 organisations who are new to bidding or have been unsuccessful in bidding for contracts in the past. NAVCA will also capture the learning from this work and make it more widely available, benefiting other third sector organisations.

Pauline Kimantas, NAVCA’s Local Commissioning and Procurement Manager, said

“Third sector organisations want to be more involved in the design and delivery of public services but there is not a level playing field. We are delighted to be part of a programme to create fairer commissioning processes.

“NAVCA will specifically be working with our members to assist local third sector organisations who are either new to bidding or have been unsuccessful in the past. We will help them get over some of the hurdles third sector organisations face and use what we learn to improve commissioning processes for all local groups.”

New equality guidance on procurement

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:27:00 +0100

New equality guidance on procurement:

IDeA has published practical guidance on ensuring that public procurement is consistent with good practice around equalities and diversity. The guidance covers the Equality Bill, the procurement process and supporting supplier diversity. The webpages include useful links to a range of resources on related websites.

Explore the guidance

Demos publish 'Getting More for Less; Efficiency in the Public Sector'

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 11:47:40 +0100

Demos publish 'Getting More for Less; Efficiency in the Public Sector':

Following Gershon efficiency targets and the Treasury’s new Operation Efficiency Programme lead by Sir Michael Bichard, Demos has sought to advance the long running efficiency agenda by emphasising the importance of effectiveness of public services.

The document suggests an alternative to simply reducing the level of inputs in services (budget cuts), “start with effectiveness - get things right. Efficiency will follow.”

It cites personalisation, prevention and collaboration as three ways to transform service delivery and make long term savings.

The pamphlet shows international examples of getting more for less is possible and offers policy makers practical guidance on how to do it.

Download “getting more for less”