Right to challenge: big society or big business?

Michael O’Toole Chief Executive, 3SC

Right to challenge:

“Every public service should have the ethos that it is open to working with the voluntary sector. When local authorities consider a challenge, they can consider social value. This is very much a community right to challenge.” Greg Clark - Fringe Event, Conservative Party Conference 2011

Right to challenge:

• • • Only 2% of spend on public services currently goes to civil society organisations (CSO’s).

Admission at Central Government level that ‘some local services are not being delivered as effectively or efficiently as they could be.

Government has committed to “give communities the right to bid to take over local state run services where they believe that they can do this differently and better.”

Right to challenge process:

Why? Wider benefits anticipated:

• • • • • As a key part of the Localism Bill’s decentralisation mechanisms, service users and communities will have greater empowerment through being able to challenge and run services.

VfM cost savings - typically found to be a 20 per cent saving.

Increased diversity of provision.

Improved innovation and responsiveness of local services.

Increased focus on social and environmental impact, and sustainability, in the spirit of the Public Services (Social Enterprise and Social Value) Bill.

NAVCA Advocates that:

• • • • • • Commissioners need a good understanding of the local voluntary organisations and community groups and the legislative , funding and cultural environment within which they operate and should consider: How local voluntary organisations and community groups will be affected by the commissioning of a service.

Is there an existing community of voluntary provider that could deliver?

Will a competitive approach improve the service or not?

Will a competitive approach increase or reduce local social capital.

Will it increase or decrease the diversity of the local voluntary or community sector?

Challenges and considerations:

• • • There should be a regulatory requirement that an EOI can only be initiated by a local organisation. Community groups may be reluctant to direct resources to the processes of challenging existing service delivery if the ultimate outcome could be a transfer to a private sector organisation.

Regulation around the right to challenge should encourage locally-driven partnerships and collaborative working between small and large local and national organisations.

Ensuring the right kind of partnerships:

Support Needed Identified:

• • Consultation Feb to May 2011 – 206 responses received.

Respondents made suggestions for a range of skills and support that could give CSO’s a better chance of being selected and subsequently delivering services effectively: Procurement Business skills Governance Legal/ TUPE advice Plain English Guidance Mentoring

Support Needed Identified:

• • • Urban Forum Survey: 2011 (84 respondents) similar findings: 42 % said they knew little or nothing about community rights. 33% seemed to think it related to planning, rather than a means to trigger a commissioning process.

But over 50% said they would be interested in taking up the right to challenge.

Challenges Identified:

• • • • Urban Forum Survey identified potential concerns: Risk of competing interests to divide communities. Commercial interest to be given a priority over community interest.

Could benefit more privileged groups and increase inequalities within communities if less vocal communities are not properly supported to take advantage.

Potential to lead to fractured and inconsistent service provision which could further disadvantage poorer communities.

Support and sharing:

• • • Local providers could tap into centralised expert support through local support and development organisations such as councils for voluntary service and NAVCA members.

Larger and smaller organisations could form service provider consortia with experience across a range of areas of provision and support each other.

Hands-on support could supplement templates, toolkits and training sessions with a focus on: - unpacking procurement processes - Writing bids and demonstrating effective outcomes - HR / TUPE/ Finance/ Legal/ IT support - Delivering and measuring effective contract performance

3SC support to consortia:

• • • CSO’s are already delivering effective public services on a local level. Based on the conviction that the priorities and needs of people using public services in our communities, especially those who are hardest to-reach, are best met by experienced, local, passionate and mission-driven organisations who deliver effective social outcomes.

Enables, supports and capacity builds CSO’s of all sizes to deliver public service contracts as part of a larger consortia network.

Thank you

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