Commissioning Advice Services

The term ‘commissioning’ is often misinterpreted – it does not equate to competitive tendering. Government defines effective commissioning as a continuous process of service planning, delivery and review, which involves:

• Needs analysis based on the experience of service providers, users and the wider community;
• Service planning to ensure that needs are met and that the service makes a difference;
• Implementing the most appropriate way of resourcing the service to ensure that it delivers the outcomes required, including using grant funding to invest in activities that contribute to the achievement of public bodies’ wider objectives, or to support innovation, risk-taking and organisational development;
• Proportionate monitoring of what is delivered and the difference it makes, using service evaluation to encourage ongoing improvement.

External Resources
Click on the links below to access a range of guidance and resources which have informed the BOLD approach to commissioning:

• Eight Principles of Good Commissioning
• Creating Strong, Safe and Prosperous Communities  - in particular, pages 49 - 52
• Better Funding: Financial relationships with third sector organisations - a decision support tool for public bodies - especially page 11
• Successful Commissioning - A Good Practice Guide on local commissioning published by the National Audit Office. 
• The Compact
• Empowering the Voluntary Sector
• Local Grants Forum

BOLD is developing its approach to commissioning through work in Nottingham, and welcomes comments on the approach. To support AdviceUK’s Smart Advice campaign in the run-up to the 2010 General Election, we produced Smart Funding, which sets out our approach. We have also drafted a briefing on commissioning advice services, to support local authorities in commissioning advice services. You can access both these documents by following the links below.

 If you have questions or would like to comment on either of these documents, e mail simon.johnson@adviceuk.org.uk.

• BOLD
  • Why is BOLD needed?
  • Commissioning Advice Services
  • Making Advice a Local Priority
  • Commissioning Skills and Influence
  • Project Partners
  • BOLD in Nottingham
• Access to Justice
• Working Together for Advice
• Archive
• RADICAL

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