Commissioning and Investment 

Underpinning: Ensure tackling inequalities is at the centre of all decision-making.

1. Embed the importance of the VCSE sector
2. Invest strategically in the infrastructure required for building VCSE and community capacity
3. Better knowledge, understanding and access
4. Accessible procurement and a strategic approach to grants
5. A core focus on co-design and co-production
6. Embed Social Value
7. Develop and implement an evaluation framework

This paper by NHS GM updates Chief Officers on the challenges facing the VCFSE sector and its future sustainability. It proposes adopting clear commissioning principles to address these challenges and outlines a forward strategy beyond the current 5-year Accord. In its final year, the Accord will prioritise sector resilience by diversifying income, tackling contracting issues, strengthening the sector’s voice in strategy, building support infrastructure, and improving intelligence-sharing. The proposed direction builds on the last five years, aiming for deeper collaboration between NHS GM, GMCA and the VCFSE sector, positioning Greater Manchester as a trailblazer in partnership working.

These slides provide a quick overview of the Procurement Act, the roadmap for its implementation, and actions you should take now.

The VCFSE Commissioning and Investment Group aims to influence how Social Value is thought of, measured and secured by commissioning and procurement colleagues. These are our key messages and asks to our partners working in these areas.

The Procurement Act 2023 comes into force in Autumn 2024, bringing with it changes to how the public sector procures goods and services. This briefing from the VCFSE Commissioning and Investment Group outlines the main changes that we expect to see, provides links to more detailed briefings and training, and highlights actions that VCFSE sector organisations can take now and in the near future, to prepare for the Act coming into effect.

A key area of focus of the VCSE Commissioning and Investment Group is to influence how Social Value is thought of, measured and secured by commissioners and procurement colleagues. This case study describes how Oldham is working collaboratively to connect up private and public sector offers of support with their local community, and the pivotal role that VCSE Local Infrastructure plays in this.

A key area of focus for the VCSE Commissioning and Investment Group is to influence Greater Manchester and locality commissioners to include the VCSE sector as equal partners in decision-making, and to offer greater transparency around that decision-making. This case study describes how one of our local areas, Rochdale, is working toward this goal.

Over February and March of 2024, we carried out a survey to find out how much progress we had made on the VCSE Commissioning Framework recommendations over the past 4 years. Although the response rate was fairly low, we gathered valuable insight into current experiences of VCSE Commissioning, which are summarised in this report.

These findings have been used to refine the VCSE Commissioning and Investment Group’s plans for 24/5 and beyond.

This update is designed to bring you up to speed with recent developments around VCSE Commissioning and Investment, and where to find out more or get involved. 

One of the key areas of focus of the VCSE Commissioning and Investment Group is to influence how Social Value is thought of, measured and secured by commissioners and procurement colleagues. This case study describes how one of our local areas, Bolton, is working collaboratively to improve their approach to Social Value.

The Commissioning and Investment Group recognise that there continue to be significant concerns regarding VCSE-held contracts and grants that are due to end in March 24, or later in the year 24/5. Many of these contracts provide vital support and services to our community and the wider system by addressing inequality and poverty; improving health and wellbeing and preventing ill health; and supporting community resilience and solutions – all of which align closely with GM system and commissioner strategies. If these contracts are not extended, the impact on individuals, communities, the VCSE contract holders, their workforce, and the wider system will be felt for many years.

Whilst we are working with our NHS GM commissioners to review each of their VCSE-held contracts at risk; we recognise that a lot of these decisions are being taken locally. This briefing therefore aims to give VCSE organisations information on key strategies and policies that may you support in your local negotiations.

In readiness for the next General Election, the Labour Party has released two key proposals which indicate their priorities and direction of travel around health – their NHS Mission and Labour’s Child Health Action Plan. This short briefing outlines the key elements of each proposal, and describes potential opportunities within these for the VCSE Sector.

In readiness for the next General Election, the Labour Party has announced its intention to work in partnership with the VCSE sector, creating a ‘Society of Service’. This short briefing outlines broad commitments made, and emerging commentary from the VCSE Sector on this announcement.

This briefing note outlines how changes in the way public sector organisations approach commissioning will affect Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) organisations. It also explores long- and short-term challenges in the commissioning ecosystem. 

Changes that transform how partners will work together are taking place in health and locality systems. Meanwhile, the cost of living crisis, Local Authority cuts, and the need to deliver a balanced NHS budget continue to add pressure to a system

We hosted a webinar on the NHS Provider Selection Regime which is active from 1 January 2024, and the potential implications for the VCSE Sector. You can view slides and a recording of the session.

The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has approved the implementation of a landmark Fair Funding Protocol that ‘will cover activities and services that the VCFSE sector carries out in communities that are funded by the GMCA’s budget in Greater Manchester’. This agreement builds on the progress the VCSE sector has made in partnership with the GMCA under the Greater Manchester VCSE Accord. The protocol is a significant step that will ‘guide how the combined authority plans its grant funding, commissions, and manages contracts with VCFSE organisations.’ It will allow the sector to better deliver for communities and citizens of Greater Manchester.

The Commissioning Group wrote to Health Leaders to alert them of a number of VCSE Sector contracting and commissioning issues which need to be addressed by the GM Integrated Care System with urgency. In particular, non-recurrent contracts that are due to end in March 2024.