Public Sector and Commissioning It could be less boring than it sounds…

Public Sector Income The Prince’s Trust – national (UK) ➔ 2008/09 The Trust’s income was £41m ➔ £15.7m was ‘public sector’ Of which £7.5m local & national government £2.7m European Union A bit of maths….£ other

The Prince’s Trust – regional (UK) ➔ 2008/09 The Trust’s income was £2.57m ➔ £1.3m was ‘public sector’ £350,000 Business Link £106,000 Learning & Skills Council £433,000 European Union £60,000 Local Authorities Public Sector Income

2009/10 – a tougher year ➔ Four times less European Money ➔ £100,000 Local Authorities ➔ Increased demands on the public purse

Public Sector Contracts ➔ Contracts not grants ➔ Delivering outcomes and outputs Business Link – business starts, training sessions Local authorities – young people in xl clubs Probation Trusts – a reduction in re- offending ➔ Evidence Base (need and outcomes) ➔ Audit trails

What is ‘Commissioning’? ➔ More than just ‘procurement’ ➔ “The strategic activity of assessing need, resources and current services and developing a strategy to make the best use of available resources” (standard definition) ➔ “The process for deciding how to use the total resource available for children, young people and parents in order to improve outcomes in the most efficient, effective, equitable and sustainable way.” (Commissioning Support Programme)

How does ‘Commissioning’ differ? ➔ Driving improvements for service users ➔ Focus on outcomes ➔ Sharper focus on needs of the end user ➔ Involvement of the end user or other stakeholders ➔ Strategic understanding of how needs can / are met locally (“mapping and gapping”) ➔ Development of a market place of providers

Levels of commissioning ➔ Regional commissioning – highly specialised ➔ Strategic commissioning – outcomes linked ➔ Operational (eg schools clusters) ➔ Delegation to the end user (eg personalised care budgets)

Who ‘commissions’? ➔ Primary Care Trusts ➔ Specialist Health Trusts (eg mental health) ➔ Local Authorities or Clusters ➔ Local Strategic Partnerships ➔ Clusters of schools ➔ Children’s Trusts…

Policy drivers ➔ Every Child Matters 2003 (Eg “Stay Safe”) ➔ Children Act 2004 Statutory basis for inter-agency co-operation Director of Children’s Services A Single Children & Young People Plan Local Safeguarding boards ➔ Education & Inspection Act 2006 LAs to make sure C&YP exciting things to do in spare time ‘Youth offer’ of positive activities ➔ Local Government & Public Health Act 2007 Local Area Agreement on statutory footing

National Indicators ➔ NI 33 Arson Incidents ➔ NI 49 Primary Fires & Related Fatalities/ Casulaties ➔ NI 1 % of people from different backgrounds who get on well together in their local area

Children’s Trusts ➔ Tangible outcome of Laming Enquiry/ ECM agenda ➔ Local Partnership – LA, PCT, police, fire, YOTs, Connexions, LSC etc ➔ Less an organisation, more a step change in the whole system of children’s services ➔ Local focus on local priorities (linked to C&YP/ LAA) ➔ Shared professional arrangements (eg Common Assessment Framework), ➔ Data sharing ➔ Pooled budgets ➔ Joint Planning & Commissioning Framework

Implications for The Prince’s Trust ➔ More but smaller contracts ➔ One size does not fit all ➔ Attentive to local priorities and evidence base ➔ Better outcomes for young people ➔ Multi-agency environment - partnership ➔ Market place ➔ Value for money, solutions-based interventions

Example - Redditch ➔ Four new xl clubs ➔ Deliver xl in context of Worcestershire County Council’s ‘Engage to Learn’ scheme ➔ Work with Youth Service

Hitting the right buttons ➔ More scientific approach rather than blanket ➔ Evidence base, demonstrate results ➔ Commissioners want to achieve their priorities, not fund programmes. E.g. xl ‘Enjoy and achieve’ ‘Stay Safe’ ‘Make a positive contribution’ ➔ Get in on the conversation, e.g. Sandwell LSP A voice on on worklessness & youth agenda Helping with business plan Look at how manage Future Jobs Fund

How Fire & Rescue Services can help

➔ 14 Strategic Partnerships in WM Region alone ➔ Brokering relationships with Children’s Trusts, Community Safety Partnerships ➔ Adding value at PQQ & ITT stage ➔ Alerting the Trust to local needs & service gaps ➔ Joint bidding and match funding (e.g. youth justice, NOMS provision)

Thank you