Commissioning Support Programme for Children's Trusts

Effective commissioning of local services is vital in delivering better outcomes for children and young people and for making the best use of available resources. This is why the DCSF is now designing a three-year programme, launching later this year, to foster a sustained change in the way local authorities (LAs) and their children's trust partners commission services.

The programme will offer training and development and facilitate peer-to-peer networking and collaboration. It will build upon the work of other DCSF-funded initiatives such as tailored commissioning peer support offered to LAs and their partners by the Department, the regional commissioning of residential-care pilots and school commissioning pathfinders.

The Department also wants to harness the expertise of those working in commissioning and children's services, to help define and shape what needs to be delivered and ensure that this is met by the programme. It is therefore consulting with key audiences and groups to understand the challenges on the ground and to identify the best ways of providing information and support to commissioning practitioners.

Currently, a procurement process is underway to select the services of a consortia, or of a main supplier, to deliver a substantial part of the programme. The successful supplier will help build commissioning capability through the package of training, support and guidance developed, as well as enable professionals to learn from each other through facilitated peer support, networks and learning.

The Commissioning Support Programme for Children's Trusts is expected to deliver a positive step-change in the culture and capability for commissioning. By April 2011, the vision is to have children's trust partners able to:

• Analyse rich qualitative and quantitative information, using this to understand the needs of their children and families and identify appropriate outcomes to meet needs
• Plan and shape services around identified needs to deliver identified outcomes and anticipate potential problems by focusing on prevention
• Stimulate a diverse supplier base and enter into dialogue with potential providers
• Review and monitor service delivery (whether public, private or third sector), and identify gaps or shortcomings, taking remedial action as necessary
• Gather data from the monitoring of service delivery to inform subsequent commissioning cycles

To find out more about the programme, and how commissioning contributes to enriching the lives of children and young people, please email the Commissioning Support Programme for Children's Trusts.