A recent article published on the Public Leaders Network highlighted an interesting report by the Association of Directors of Children's Services following a survey and interviews with directors of children's services.
The report reviews changes underway across children's services, including changes to portfolios at director level, reductions at second tier, moves to distinguish between commissioning and provider functions, and authorities moving away from direct provision of services or pulling more services into the corporate centre.
But the article risks conflating the last two of these issues and perpetuating the old myth that commissioning of itself equals outsourcing. This is not true. Effective commissioning is agnostic about who provides services and what sector they are from. It is a set of principles and procedures that, properly applied, can ensure the most effective and efficient use of all available resources.
In practice, a commissioning process often results in re-configured and more user-centric services. And a commissioning approach can help with other trends identified by ADCS, such as developing voluntary sector providers, building new relationships with the changing health system and finding new ways to support school improvements. If an authority wishes to shift delivery of services out of council control, such a policy decision needs to be supported by good commissioning practice, so that the transition leads to sustainable services and improved results.
As regards the scepticism about whether the changes will save money, this has to be a core question in the face of reducing budgets. At the Commissioning Support Programme (CSP) we fully recognise the need to have a positive impact on the lives of children and young people by making the best possible use of all available resources. As the ADCS says, key skills for future directors of children's services include the ability to marshal resources and make best use of professional expertise, and the confidence and courage to challenge orthodox solutions and to implement change in the face of opposition from the professional establishment – a commissioning approach, in fact.
There are two other recent sources of information specifically on the state of commissioning. There is the programme's own report and the independent evaluation of CSP's work and its impact on commissioning practice, which has just been published. Both demonstrate feedback and evidence from the sector about positive progress in commissioning for outcomes and efficiency, and they give cause for optimism if this momentum can be maintained.
If localism is to mean anything, and the concept of the "big society" is to progress beyond a neat phrase, then commissioning must be at the heart of reforming services. You don't have to support the current government to acknowledge that many of our public services could be better: more effective, better value and more connected to the needs of people who use them.
Commissioning is a way of making that happen. It is not a panacea – budget cuts will still hurt – but a rigorous commissioning approach will mean that the right questions are being asked of the right people.
Hilary Thompson is chair of the Commissioning Support Programme
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