Government publishes Green Paper on modernising commissioning

The government has published a Green Paper on commissioning as part of a bid to create a level playing field for charities, voluntary groups and social enterprises that want to bid for public service contracts.

The consultation will inform a Public Service Reform White Paper to be published next year and support the Public Services (Social Enterprise and Social Value) Bill, which will require recognition of “full value” as part of mainstream commissioning practice.

The Green Paper sets out four key questions:

• In which public service areas could government create new opportunities for civil society organisations to deliver?
• How could government make existing public service markets more accessible to civil society organisations?
• How could commissioners use assessments of full social, environmental and economic value to inform their commissioning decisions?
• How could civil society organisations support greater citizen and community involvement in all stages of commissioning?

In this context the Green Paper examines issues such as introducing payment by results, setting proportions of specific services that should be delivered by independent organisations, and introducing new rights for communities to run services.

It also looks at how to increase transparency in public procurement, and ways to “manage the short term movement towards large centralised contracts and move to a decentralised approach in the longer term”.

Other issues tackled include extension of the planned ‘right to challenge’ to public services, and the rollout of community budgets that pool funding for local services. The Comprehensive Spending Review saw the establishment of 16 local areas to trial community budgets, but the government wants all places to be able to operate the approach from April 2013. There will also be a review of guidance on the application of TUPE.

Nick Hurd, Minister for Civil Society said: “Public services must make better use of tax-payer’s money. We need smarter commissioning processes that take into account the social and environmental impact of organisations awarded contracts.

“Good performance in these areas can take pressure off other public services and so create efficiencies across the board. This is part of a Big Society approach that will form the core of the White Paper next year.”

A copy of the Green Paper can be downloaded here. The consultation closes on 5 January.