National Association for Voluntary and Community Action local focus national voice Grants & contracts John Dawson Commissioning and Procurement Advisor NAVCA

National Association for Voluntary and Community Action local focus national voice Local Commissioning and Procurement Unit Response to NAVCA members’ needs Top 2 future challenges Support and guidance on commissioning and procurement Enable sharing of information, networking

National Association for Voluntary and Community Action local focus national voice Third sector policy OTS - Public Services Action Plan 2006 Futurebuilders National Programme for Third Sector Commissioning Social Clauses work, Innovation Exchange

National Association for Voluntary and Community Action local focus national voice Other drivers Gershon efficiency savings Contestability Best value – what scoring criteria? Fear of EU procurement regulations Personalisation of services and choice

National Association for Voluntary and Community Action local focus national voice Changing times Growing ‘public services industry’ £79bn Double the size of ten years ago +£67bn on ‘goods’ +£10bn funding third sector  in grant funding?

National Association for Voluntary and Community Action local focus national voice What role? Influence Design Delivery Part of supply chain Monitoring, expertise & local intelligence Users of services

National Association for Voluntary and Community Action local focus national voice Commissioning and procurement Commissioning –The cycle of assessing the needs of people in an area, designing and then securing an appropriate service Procurement –the specific aspects of the commissioning cycle that focus on the process of buying services, from initial advertising through to appropriate contract arrangements Partnership in Public Services: An action plan for third sector involvement

National Association for Voluntary and Community Action local focus national voice Growth of commissioning Commissioning of grant budgets Shift to contracts and more formal relationships Tendering of services and competition A different mindset required

National Association for Voluntary and Community Action local focus national voice Challenges New relationships Complex rules? Competition Unintended consequences New skills: –sales, pricing a service, marketing, contract management, scale & accessing finance etc

National Association for Voluntary and Community Action local focus national voice Grants or Procurement? Grants: in broad alignment with objectives Procurement: used to buy goods and services, usually though a competitive process NAO Decision Support Tool

National Association for Voluntary and Community Action local focus national voice Contracts Customer specifies requirements Buying of goods or services Legally binding Procurement regulations VAT liable Competitive process

National Association for Voluntary and Community Action local focus national voice Grants Organisation designs / suggests a programme Flexibility Public body ‘subsidises’ that programme No VAT May be competitive

National Association for Voluntary and Community Action local focus national voice Which to use? Both part of intelligent commissioning What does your commissioning framework say? No exact formula – often a blur What are you trying to achieve? State of the market?

National Association for Voluntary and Community Action local focus national voice Example… Central Government Intention: “it is likely that they will chiefly be drawn from local non-profit organisations which are well versed in community engagement, involvement and networking and have links to a wide range of organisations and communities.” Getting ready for LINks. Contracting a host organisation for your Local Involvement Network Department of Health

National Association for Voluntary and Community Action local focus national voice Value of grants Founded on long-term relationship Rapid response to need Flexible Minimal bureaucracy – cash to frontline Regular reviews provide accountability Direct reflection of local values & priorities Enable risk taking

National Association for Voluntary and Community Action local focus national voice Arguing locally for grants Good relationships Promote value of local grants –Local Grants Forum local political support & elected members National Indicators Leverage

National Association for Voluntary and Community Action local focus national voice Documents ‘Financial relationships with third sector organisations – a decision support tool for public bodies in England’ NAO ► web linkweb link ‘Improving financial relationships with the third sector: Guidance to funders and purchasers’ HM Treasury ► web linkweb link ‘Why Grants are important to a healthy local VCS’ NAVCA ► web linkweb link

National Association for Voluntary and Community Action local focus national voice Summary NAVCA – –Local Commissioning & Procurement UnitLocal Commissioning & Procurement Unit –NAVCA local grants workNAVCA local grants work –Improving Local Partnerships infobankImproving Local Partnerships infobank –Empowering the Voluntary SectorEmpowering the Voluntary Sector