Joint commissioning

What is commissioning?

Commissioning is the process of assessing need, identifying resources available, planning how to use the resources, arranging service delivery (as opposed to operational management),reviewing the service and reassessing need. Commissioning creates the levers for service change. Integrated commissioning will bring innovation, value for money and improved services that cut waste and duplication.

Why commission jointly?

The benefits of joint commissioning are that it will help agencies together to:

• Target services to give the greatest impact on outcomes
• Avoid duplication of services
• Ensure value for money & efficiency
• Develop co-ordinated services
• Share best practice
• Share expertise
• Share intelligence about needs

Who is responsible for commissioning?

The Trust Board will be the key driver to ensure the effective commissioning of all services to children and young people in Buckinghamshire. To deliver this work a Joint Commissioning Service has been established. This service is located in the Commissioning and Business Improvement Division of the County Council and works in partnership with the Joint Commissioning Group of the Trust.

The Trust Board shall also ensure input by all represented organisations into the development of commissioning arrangements by virtue of its role as strategic lead on commissioning and shall require the CYPSP to task the joint commissioning service group in accordance with that lead.

What is the joint commissioning group?

The three-year strategy adopted by the Trust in 2007 established that the Joint Commissioning Group, a sub-group of the Children and Young People’s Trust, would oversee the delivery of the Joint Commissioning Strategy and plan the delivery of all services to children and young people in Buckinghamshire.

The Joint Commissioning Group is accountable to the Children and Young People’s Trust Board through the CYPSP and regularly reports to the Board all the business it conducts. A Tracker is sent each month from the Joint Commissioning Group to the Children and Young People’s Trust to update them on progress.

The commissioning principles and process

The core principles of commissioning adopted in the “Commissioning Principles & Framework” already agreed by the Children and Young People’s Trust are:

• All decisions are based on a clear rationale for improving outcomes and are linked to organisational and partnership priorities
• Commissioning should make sure that we get the most out of every pound we spend in Buckinghamshire
• Commissioning should always focus on delivering efficiencies, outcomes and quality
• Commissioning should always focus on evidence based practice
• All services are systematically commissioned
• Commissioners should make sure that outcomes are sustainable in the long term.
• Adults, Children, young people, their families and communities must participate meaningfully.
• Commissioners have a strategy to move resources to preventative and early intervention services.
• Commissioning function exercises independence of decision making from internal and external providers.
• Commission in partnership with other commissioning bodies locally or regionally, so as to maximise efficiency and category management opportunities
• Commissioners must ensure that approaches are compatible with EU and UK law, regulations and guidance.
• Decisions must be transparent and fair.
• Our commissioning approach should not disadvantage small or medium sized enterprises
• There should be only one strategic commissioning plan for all children’s services for all children and young people in Bucks.
• Big Society: support and encourage community involvement in delivering local services
  

Joint Commissioning Strategy 2011-2014

The Trust's joint commissioning strategy for 11-14 can be downloaded here (the appendix and other documents are available at the bottom of the page).

The key commissioning priorities based on our JSNA and CYP Plan priorities are:

1. Commissioning more Early Intervention and Prevention services with a proven evidence base as detailed in for example the Allen Review e.g. Family Nurse Partnership.
    - This will be supplemented with a “Prevention Commissioning Framework” in line with the Prevention Strategy
    - This will link with Health Service change programmes such as the work to increase and re-focus the work of health visitors to ensure both early intervention and an integrated approach
2. Commissioning services that support the Child Poverty Strategy
3. Commissioning education and training provision to close the gap between the lowest 20% and the median re: [a]  those achieving level  2 at 16 and level 3 by 19 [b] points score at Early Years Foundation Stage [NI92]
4. Parenting Support.
    - This will link to the Parenting Strategy.
5. Protection, prevention and treatment: Domestic Abuse
6. Prevention and treatment: Substance Misuse
    - This will link to the Buckinghamshire DAAT Commissioning Strategy 2010-13
7. Sufficiency of placements for both social care and educational services, this includes sufficiency both by type and volume, and action to ensure value for money
8. Sufficiency of Early Years places.
    -  This will link to the Sufficiency Action Plan.
9. Re-commissioning of services for children & young people with special educational needs and disabilities, so as to improve outcomes and value for money
10. Re-commissioning of services at the point of transition to adulthood, so as to improve outcomes and value for money
     - This will link to the Strengthening Transitions Arrangements Programme Delivery Plan
11. Ensure that the capital programme is aligned with these priorities

Commissioning for outcomes

All contracts will include:

• outcome-based performance targets so as to ensure the delivery of services that focus on outcomes
• a cycle of monitoring so that performance can be measured
• quality standards that can be monitored so as to ensure the overall quality of provision. This will include consumer feedback

Participation

The involvement of children and young people is central to the commissioning process and the aim is to involve them at every stage of the commissioning cycle. Guidance has been agreed by the Children and Young People’s Trust on involving children and young people in commissioning. Please download the document below.

Engaging with the third sector

The Third Sector have a critical role in delivering services for children and young people in Buckinghamshire and a number of contracts are already in place with Third Sector organisations. However, the commissioning process can also pose challenges, particularly for the smaller organisations. The Children and Young People’s Trust have agreed a Third Sector Commissioning Development Plan to build the capacity of the Third Sector to tender for contracts.