Purpose of the survey

Shared Intelligence is a research consultancy working alongside Collaborate at Southbank University and the Institute for Government (IfG) to carry out research to assess the readiness of the social sector to contract for public service delivery.

In addition to policy drivers such as the Government’s Open Public Services White Paper and the localism and ‘Big Society’ agendas, it is likely that the quest for savings in an age of austerity will mean that external commissioning by the public sector is set to continue. However, as contracts become increasingly complex, e.g. through using Payment by Results (PBR), it is unclear whether commissioners and providers are able to make these new arrangements work in a way that puts service users and communities first.

As such, we are keen to collect the views of social sector organisations and ‘for profit’ businesses (for comparison) that provide services on behalf of public sector commissioners in the following service areas:

• DWP Employment Services/Work Programme
• Prison and Probation (social and educational services)
• Adult Social Care for Older People
• Mental Health
• Drugs and Alcohol
• Special Needs Children’s Services (Educational)

We are interested in your experience of responding to commissioning opportunities and delivering services, changes over recent years and current enablers and barriers to contracting with the public sector.

This research will be used by Collaborate as part of a wider piece of work exploring how public services can be improved through social sector involvement and the readiness of the sector to respond. This will help to create an evidence base of good practice to inform policy and generate positive solutions to overcome barriers posed by the commissioning process.

As such, this survey gives you a chance to contribute to the evidence informing this debate from your own experience and perspective. The survey should take around 30 minutes to complete. The most senior person with an overview of/responsible for public sector contracts in your organisation/business should complete this survey.

You can pause the survey at any point and return to it to continue/amend your response by clicking on the same link. When you have completed the survey, please click 'done'. Once your response is submitted, you will not be able to change your responses.

Your responses will remain completely anonymous – we will not use any personal information in analysis or write up. Your responses and any personal details will be stored securely by Shared Intelligence for a period of 12 months, after which the data will be deleted.

PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR RESPONSE BY FRIDAY 13 SEPTEMBER 2013 AT THE LATEST

Terminology used

The social sector is a collective term for charities, voluntary and community sector (VCS) organisations and social enterprises.

Commissioning is the term given to the cycle of identifying need and aspiration; setting outcome targets to meet those needs and aspirations; identifying options for commissioning; managing the procurement process; and continually monitoring and reviewing performance and change.

In contrast, procurement is the means of purchasing services or goods from another agency, be it in the public, private or social sectors.

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