Introduction
Whether making grants or buying services, an
effective financial relationship between a public body and
a third sector organisation requires careful thought.
Some of the things to think about are not financial. So the
guidance also embraces related processes such as identifying needs
and setting outcomes (which comes before the purely financial part
of commissioning) and evaluation (which follows it). Here we
consider who is involved in commissioning within public bodies and
when they should use this guidance. We also consider the
benefits of working with the Third Sector and give some typical
examples of how this happens.
You should use this guidance at different points
in your relationship with a TSO:
-
Before you establish the
financial relationship. In particular, being clear about the
outcomes you seek before you go into the financial aspects of the
relationship will help to make later steps in commissioning
smoother and more productive;
-
During. Commissioning
involves maintaining good financial relationships.
Issues may arise during the course of even the best financial
relationships. Good ‘maintenance’ can help you to spot and
deal with small issues before they become major problems;
-
After. It is important to
learn the lessons of one ‘generation’ of commissioning and apply
them to the next. This will bring about continuous
improvement. The guidance contains a section on evaluation to
help you achieve this.
Our research tells us that a crucial
point in the commissioning process is the decision on which funding
channel to use: grant, grant-in-aid or procurement. Our
guidance looks at this in detail. We suggest that
commissioners should consider this carefully before starting the
process of grant making or procurement. You can
find out more about this in Grant and
Procurement.