Commissioner’s survey |
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 national and local commissioners from across the country on policies and practices around social sector commissioning, changes over recent years and current enablers and barriers to social sector commissioning.
We are interested in the involvement of the social sector in the full commissioning cycle (i.e. strategic commissioning) over and above the procurement process. In this context we are focusing on four areas of commissioning by local authorities and their partners, and CCGs. These are:
• Adult Social Care for Older People
• Mental Health
• Drugs and Alcohol
• Special Needs Children’s Services (Educational)
Although we are primarily concerned with social sector commissioning we are interested in how this is informed by your organisation’s commissioning policy and practice more generally so there are some broader questions about commissioning in the survey.
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 most senior person with an overview of/responsible for commissioning in your organisation/service area should complete this survey. We are sending this survey to Chief Executives. Directors of Adult Services, Directors of Children’s Services and Directors of Public Health in all single tier and county councils and Chief Executives of all CCGs. We welcome multiple responses from organisations to cover different service areas and/or a range of commissioning roles and responsibilities.
The survey should take around 30 minutes to complete. 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 terms used to describe 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 a process of how you want to commission; 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.
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 national and local commissioners from across the country on policies and practices around social sector commissioning, changes over recent years and current enablers and barriers to social sector commissioning.
We are interested in the involvement of the social sector in the full commissioning cycle (i.e. strategic commissioning) over and above the procurement process. In this context we are focusing on four areas of commissioning by local authorities and their partners, and CCGs. These are:
• Adult Social Care for Older People
• Mental Health
• Drugs and Alcohol
• Special Needs Children’s Services (Educational)
Although we are primarily concerned with social sector commissioning we are interested in how this is informed by your organisation’s commissioning policy and practice more generally so there are some broader questions about commissioning in the survey.
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 most senior person with an overview of/responsible for commissioning in your organisation/service area should complete this survey. We are sending this survey to Chief Executives. Directors of Adult Services, Directors of Children’s Services and Directors of Public Health in all single tier and county councils and Chief Executives of all CCGs. We welcome multiple responses from organisations to cover different service areas and/or a range of commissioning roles and responsibilities.
The survey should take around 30 minutes to complete. 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 terms used to describe 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 a process of how you want to commission; 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.