CCPS Insights Podcasts on ethical commissioning and procurement

We’ve launched a series of podcasts focusing on the vital issue of ethical commissioning, with experts from across the sector sharing their views.

Our new series of podcasts features a range of experts sharing their views on the ethical commissioning principles developed by the Scottish Government.

The principles were introduced to promote the move to more collaborative, outcomes-based commissioning and procurement practices that support high quality, person-centred care, fair work, sustainability for providers and real choice and control for individuals under Self Directed Support (SDS).

Introducing the podcasts, Catherine Garrod, CCPS’s Programme Manager (Commissioning and Procurement), said:

“If fully implemented, CCPS believes that the ethical commissioning principles could make a real difference to the way that social care support is commissioned (planned), procured (purchased) and delivered.

“A move away from traditional price-based competition to greater collaboration and outcomes-focussed commissioning and contracting will lead to better outcomes for individuals, support that meets people’s needs, greater sustainability for third sector support providers and a workforce that is fully valued and rewarded for the work that they do.”

“Our new podcasts feature provocative and thoughtful discussion of these issues from a variety of expert voices. We hope they’ll be of interest to CCPS members and everyone in our sector committed to delivering on our shared vision for ethical commissioning in social care.”

The podcasts are produced by Spreng Thomson and hosted by Dylan Macdonald. They were commissioned by the CCPS Commissioning and Procurement Programme, which is funded by Scottish Government. See below list of episodes.

1. Overview of ethical commissioning principles and why they matter

In this first episode, we hear contributions from Dr Catherine Needham, Professor of Public Policy and Public Management at the University of Birmingham, Rachel Cackett CEO of CCPS, and Andrea Wood, Convener of CCPS and CEO of the social care provider Key.

Introducing the topic, Catherine and Rachel share their views, experiences and learning regarding ethical commissioning and the impact it has for the sector, as well as everyone involved in social care. Later in the episode Andrea Wood discusses the importance of procurement principles, touching on many of the aspects explored by Catherine and Rachel.

2. Person Centred Care, SDS, supporting a diverse market of support

The second podcast features contributions from Pauline Lunn, CEO of In Control Scotland, Linda Tuthill, CEO of The Action Group, and Des McCart, Senior Programme Manager Improvement Hub (ihub) at Healthcare Improvement Scotland.

The group look at the importance of having a diverse market of support for individuals to choose from and why it is vital people are involved in the decision-making behind their support provider and support needs.

3. Fair Work in practice and financial transparency

On this episode, we hear from Anna Fowlie, CEO of SCVO and Viv Dickenson, Chief Executive of CrossReach.

The discussion focusses on how changes to the way support is commissioned, procured and contracted can help deliver fair work. The contributors also discuss the positive impact that can come from embedding fair work in contracts and sustainable rates, and the value of effective training and workforce development.

4. Principles on high quality care and outcomes for individuals

This episode explores high quality care, with Dylan Macdonald’s guests discussing how to support the move to outcomes-based commissioning and contracting and a focus on quality, not price.

Joining the debate are Geoff Mark and Innes Turner from the Care Inspectorate, part of Scottish Government, alongside Toby Lowe, Visiting Professor at Centre for Public Impact.

5. Examples of good practice

For the final episode, we hear from Amy Hurst, Head of Practice at Collaborate CIC, SallyAnn Kelly OBE, Chief Executive Officer at Aberlour, and Gary Wallace, Public Health Specialist at Plymouth City Council.

The spotlight is on good practice examples across the care sector and the positive impact of moving to an ethical commissioning approach.

Listen to all episodes on Spotify 

Find out more about CCPS’s Commissioning and Procurement Programme

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C&P: Commissioning for Outcomes

The Independent Review of Adult Social Care 2021 made recommendations for significant and transformational changes to the way that social care is commissioned and procured including recommending a move to ethical commissioning and a focus on achieving better outcomes for individuals.

The Independent Review of Adult Social Care 2021 made recommendations for significant and transformational changes to the way that social care is commissioned and procured including recommending a move to ethical commissioning and a focus on achieving better outcomes for individuals: ‘We want to see an end to an emphasis on price and competition and to see the establishment of a more collaborative, participative and ethical commissioning framework for social care services and supports, squarely focused on achieving better outcomes for people using these services and improving the experience of the staff delivering them. By shifting emphasis in this way, we believe Scotland can deliver social care supports more fairly and more sustainably.’

In response to the recommendations, CCPS set up a Commissioning for Outcomes Project of local authority commissioners, providers and disabled people to develop a practical guide to Commissioning for Outcomes

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Our Work

Our mission is to identify, represent, promote and safeguard the interests of third sector and not-for-profit social care and support providers in Scotland, so that they can maximise the impact they have on meeting social need.

CCPS is the Coalition of Care and Support Providers in Scotland.

Our mission is to identify, represent, promote and safeguard the interests of third sector and not-for-profit social care and support providers in Scotland, so that they can maximise the impact they have on meeting social need.

We aim to provide solutions and thought leadership in policy for the social care sector. Our work is built with the expert voices of our active membership. We engage collaboratively with partners across sectors.

We currently run a number of Scottish Government funded workstreams to help us meet our mission:

Our Commissioning and Procurement Programme is actively building leadership, promoting new ideas and supporting change towards the all-important delivery of ethical commissioning and procurement in social care.  We work in active partnership with commissioners, providers and supported people.

Our Workforce Development Network supports third sector social care providers to contribute to national workforce agendas and works to underpin essential sustainability for the sector.  This includes influencing the national Fair Work agenda, the future of regulation and workforce planning.

Our Digital Programme provides support, information, learning and development opportunities to third sector providers in the digital arena, as well as running problem solving networks.  It is now heavily engaged in helping to shape digital opportunities through the National Care Service.

Our Children and Young People’s Programme gathers expertise from the sector to influence key areas of national work, such as the Whole Family Wellbeing Fund.

In addition, we work with our membership to influence the wider reform agenda through the National Care Service, we speak up for the sector around wider issues of sustainability during these difficult economic times, and we were a key player in ensuring the needs of the sector have been reflected in COVID planning.

CCPS also hosts the Criminal Justice Voluntary Sector Forum and the Housing Support Enabling Unit (in collaboration with the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations).

 

Rachel Cackett

Chief Executive Officer

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The Commissioning and Procurement Programme

The Commissioning and Procurement programme is a programme of local and national policy and practice change hosted by CCPS.

The Commissioning and Procurement Programme is fully funded by Scottish Government and aims to provide cross -sectoral support to organisations and people looking to improve how social care is commissioned and procured.

The Commissioning and Procurement Programme provides support to those leading change in local authority commissioning and procurement roles, third sector support providers and supported people by running a programme of events, collaborative change projects, provider representation, sharing good practice examples of commissioning and procurement practice and by working to influence Scottish Government on social care policy.

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Contact us: email Catherine Garrod

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C&P: Big Ideas

Our ‘Big Ideas’ aim to start conversations about how we can get things right for supported people, and those who provide, plan and purchase their support. It offers a range of practical, engaging alternatives to returning to the way thing were pre-COVID-19 and sets out how change might happen.

Our Big Ideas aim to start conversations about how we can get things right for supported people, and those who provide, plan and purchase their support. It offers a range of practical, engaging alternatives to returning to the way thing were pre-COVID-19 and sets out how change might happen.

These are our big ideas for social care… what are yours?

These ideas are only step one. We need to work together to succeed. Help us in one of these ways:

 

 

  • Collaborate – talk to us and others about the big ideas and share your own!
  • Challenge – tell us what you think about the ideas and help us make them better.
  • Change – get in touch if you’d like to try the ideas out in practice.

 

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C&P: Sustainability & Finances

Financial resources to support finance professionals and others in taking a transformative approach to commissioning and procurement of social care.  

The move towards a more ethical commissioning and procurement way of contracting for social care services will require adequate funding to support financial sustainability for social care providers and to be able to meet both the needs and outcomes of individuals receiving social care.

Ensuring that social care budgets are sufficient to meet the real cost of care for individuals and for support providers will lead to long term sustainable support provision that focusses on individuals. This includes proper resources of support providers to pay support workers a fair wage and to implement fair work practices.

CCPS has commissioned Fraser McKinlay (McKinlay Consulting) to create financial resources to support finance professionals and others in taking a transformative approach to commissioning and procurement of social care.

The resources set out how revised Best Value Statutory Guidance (2020) can be applied effectively in social care planning and contracting, and offer a checklist based on BV themes that Board members and councillors can use to aid oversight and scrutiny of social care funding.

 

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C&P: Good Practice in Procurement

Practical information about good practice in procurement relating to the contracting of social care support in Scotland.

The Independent Review of Adult Social Care recommended the need for an end to price based competition and competitive tendering, and a move to more outcomes based, person centred, sustainable contracts:

‘an end to the emphasis on price and competition and to see the establishment of a more collaborative, participative and ethical commissioning framework for adult social care services and supports, squarely focused on achieving better outcomes for people using these services and improving the experience of the staff delivering them. By shifting emphasis in this way we believe Scotland can deliver social care supports more fairly and more sustainably.’

CCPS commissioned law firm MacRoberts LLP to produce practical guides to procurement legislation and regulations relating to the contracting of social care support in Scotland.

These resources are practical guides to help support public authorities with implementing alternatives to competition, greater collaboration with support providers and supported people, taking a light touch approach to procurement for social care contracts and a shift to implementing more flexible, outcomes based contracts.

Scottish Government have published the following procurement guides for Social Care:

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C&P: Collaborative Commissioning

Information and practical examples of how planning, purchasing and providing social care can be done collaboratively with positive impacts for supported people.

Commissioning for the Public Good

The Independent Review of Adult Social Care 2021 recommended the following:

‘Commissioners should focus on establishing a system where a range of people, including people with lived experience, unpaid carers, local communities, providers and other professionals are routinely involved in the co-design and redesign, as well as the monitoring of services and supports. This system should form the basis of a collaborative, rights based and participative approach.’

In response to the recommendations, CCPS set up a Collaborative Commissioning Project of local authority commissioners and providers to develop practical guides for commissioning and procurement officers:

  • Resources: Collaborative Commissioning Guide

CCPS commissioned Wren & Greyhound to facilitate a series of online workshops between August and December 2021 with a group of 6 third sector support providers and 6 local authority commissioners. Together the group explored the ways in which providers and commissioners could work together to improve the way support is commissioned and procured.

These resources are the product of that group work and provide information and practical examples of how planning, purchasing and providing social care can be done collaboratively with positive impacts for supported people:

  1. Background, Definitions and Principles of collaborative commissioning.
  2. Possibilities: Examples of different approaches to commissioning.
  3. Practices: The practices that make collaborative commissioning work.
  4. Reading and resources
  5. Collaborative and ethical commissioning checklist

 

 

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C&P: Outcomes Based Contracts

The Independent Review of Adult Social Care recommended that commissioning and procurement of social care needs to move away from contracting through price based competitive tenders to commissioning for outcomes.

Social care contracts will need to change to become focussed on outcomes for individuals and not ‘time and task’

The Independent Review of Adult Social Care recommended that commissioning and procurement of social care needs to move away from contracting through price based competitive tenders to commissioning for outcomes.

Social care contracts will need to change to become focussed on outcomes for individuals and not ‘time and task’. Contracts for social care will be more individualised and bespoke to enable support to meet the person’s outcomes and needs. Ethical procurement of social care will be based on more collaborative approaches to contracting and involve families and supported people and providers in the process.

CCPS has been working with MacRoberts law firm to develop a Model Outcomes Based Template Contract. The contract is a 3 way contract between the local authority, the supported person and the support provider. The contract can be used and adapted by local authorities when contracting for social care support services in their local area.

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