Are you ready for commissioning? Report of research conducted with Newham’s Third Sector   

This research has been commissioned by the Newham ChangeUp steering group to identify the gaps in knowledge and capacity that may prevent voluntary, community and faith sector organisations from tendering to deliver services; and subsequently to assist them to become more competent in the tendering process.

The research aims to identify the extent to which: 

For a full copy of the report go to 'Are you ready for commissioning'.

Background:

This report follows an initial research paper which established what potential requirements may already exist for organisations tendering for services. The research paper can be found at: http://newhamchangeup.info/research+paper+commissioning 

A questionnaire was distributed to collect information from voluntary, community and faith sector organisations about the extent to which they already meet these requirements in order to begin to identify the gaps that may possibly exist. It was sent directly and indirectly to approximately  500 organisations through post and email networks. Twenty responses were received from a mixture of small medium and large organisations. To make the research more useful to both the organisations we consulted and other organisations who may enter into the tendering process, the questionnaire also raised issues about how groups generally view the proposals for commissioning and asked for comments on any concerns that they have. This report summarises the responses from the groups that submitted completed applications and will go on to form the basis of the support and training that will be offered to them in preparation for tendering to deliver services. It also makes recommendations to commissioners and service deliverers about how to get the most out of the tendering process.