Guidance

Commissioning Academy: 2016 brochure

Updated 14 April 2016

1. Introduction

Commissioners are at the forefront of public service transformation. Significant efficiencies and improvements have already been delivered, but there is still a pressing challenge to achieve more for less.

To deliver the next phase of efficiencies, executives will need to lead diverse teams to design service delivery, to influence external parties and shape and manage markets. They need practical skill and judgement, access to the latest thinking and confidence and courage to deliver radical changes. That’s why the Commissioning Academy has been developed by the Cabinet Office and its delivery partners.

This brochure provides details about the Commissioning Academy and how you can apply to participate in the programme.

2. What is the Commissioning Academy?

The Academy is a unique development programme for senior leaders from all parts of the public sector. It is designed to equip a cadre of professionals, progressive in their outlook on how the public sector uses its resources to tackle the challenges facing public services, take forward new opportunities and commission the right outcomes for their communities.

The programme is designed by the Cabinet Office and delivered by The Public Service Transformation Academy, a social enterprise providing specialist know­ how and sector and commissioning expertise.

3. What is commissioning?

Commissioning is essentially the effective design and delivery of policy or services. The best commissioners have the confidence to challenge the status quo, take on radical change, collaborate effectively with external stakeholders, gain a deep understanding of the need and target resources effectively to meet those needs.

4. Who should apply?

Anyone who is involved in defining policy, shaping public service delivery or deciding how to use the limited resources available to deliver services to citizens to get the best outcome.

Even if you don’t see yourself as a ‘commissioner’ you may be a good candidate for the Academy. Previous participants include Strategy and Research Leads, Senior Policy Advisors, Heads of Change Delivery, Organisational Development Managers, Chief Inspectors, Clinical Executive Directors, Directors of Resources and many others.

The Academy is open to all public sector commissioning organisations, including central government departments, local authorities, health bodies and justice organisations.

Participants usually join the academy as part of a small group from each organisation with at least one person at director or assistant director level (local government), director or deputy director level (central government) or equivalent, accompanied by 2 to 4 colleagues. This will enable them to learn together and work as a team to apply their new thinking to their organisation’s commissioning practice. We will consider individual applications in exceptional cases.

Candidate organisations will be:

• leading innovation in commissioning services for the public by challenging existing delivery models. Each cohort will have a mix of different sector groups, covering cross-cutting themes such as troubled families, drugs and alcohol etc

Candidate individuals will be:

• people keen to make the necessary step change in commissioning outcomes, driving culture change and learning from others, to make good use of the support available to them and willing to commit the time
• responsible for shaping commissioning outcomes, driving transformational and cultural change across services/projects
• able to take back practical input to their own commissioning challenges, develop new ideas and showcase their own great results, plus gain recognition for their organisation, influence the design of the Academy, and input to future cohorts. Applications must be supported by a senior sponsor such as the Council Chief Executive or a Civil Service Director General

5. The Academy programme

The programme includes 5 sessions over 3 to 6 months, during which time participants explore commissioning practices with a range of expert speakers, through case studies and discussion.

It concentrates on peer­-led learning, debate and practical implementation. It is not a training course on technical processes. Each participant is part of a mixed sector cohort of up to 30 individuals. The cohorts are designed to provide as much diversity as possible to maximise the learning from the experiences across central and local government and other public sector organisations.

This approach enables candidates to:

• build trusting relationships with peers who can help with knotty problems
• access the country’s leading experts in relevant fields
• visit organisations who have implemented innovative approaches.

The Commissioning Academy programme is designed and delivered by the Cabinet Office and a mix of delivery partners. It was developed and piloted with leading­ edge practitioners from across the public sector, to ensure it covers the topics most relevant to those seeking to transform service delivery. These topics include the challenges of:

• defining and measuring outcome­-based commissioning
• behavioural insight and change
• working with the voluntary and community sector and use of the Social Value Act
• market development
• joint commissioning across organisational boundaries
• new models of delivery such as mutuals and social investment

The aim is to enable participants to:

• drive service provision from the perspective of the user, not the provider
• understand and influence how markets are created and shaped; and have the confidence to discuss potential solutions with suppliers and providers
• explore different approaches to challenging the status quo in order to find creative alternative solutions, including alternative funding models
• de­commission existing models that need to change and know how to avoid disproportionate bureaucracy
• push back on legal/finance obstacles where it makes sense to do so

6. Action learning

The final day of the programme is a ‘peer challenge’ session, giving participants reflective time to finalise a ‘100 day plan’ that sets out the next steps for transformation in their own organisations using their experiences and learning from the Academy programme.

These plans are then implemented in the participants’ organisations ­ improving outcomes and increasing value for money.

7. Alumni

During and after their time on the Academy, participants will join a network of senior commissioners who have the skills, know-how and confidence to tackle the many challenges facing our public services. Alumni events are held regularly to facilitate ongoing development.

8. Costs

Candidates’ organisations will need to cover:

• a contribution of £2,000 per participant to the costs of the programme
• travel and expenses

Local academies and those tailored to specific sectors are also available. Visit http://www.publicservicetransformation.org for more details.

9. How do I apply?

Applications are currently being considered and can be made on the application form and sent to info@commissioning.academy.

If you would like to discuss your application or any aspect of the Commissioning Academy with a member of our team please call 020 3771 2608.

10. Past participants’ reflections

Tom Alexander, Head of Strategic Business, ​Customers, Commissioning and Governance Division London Borough of Sutton:

The Commissioning Academy proved to be a valuable experience. I had hoped to find out more about commissioning practice across the public sector and pick up a few tips along the way but it was much more than that.

Going through the process enabled me to make connections with people that has led to ongoing learning and sharing, gave me space to formulate ideas and test them with people facing similar issues and to keep up to speed with what is going on nationally.

I was particularly pleased with the topics that were covered as they introduced ideas from outside of the traditional commissioning ‘space’ which has helped improve our local practice systems thinking being an obvious example.

Finally I think the Academy programme has helped raise the profile of commissioning as a discipline. It has often been seen as something mechanistic that, once you know the steps, can be completed. Seeing the innovation and passion that people have when considering how to commission confirms my belief that it is much more. Going through the programme reminded me commissioning is more about people and relationships and any outcome is better for that.

Julie Taylor, Assistant Chief Executive, London Borough of Barnet:

We’ve got out of the Academy exactly what we wanted. We’ve never really found a way to get together as the public sector and learn from each other and that’s exactly what we’ve had from this. We’ve had some really high quality presentations but I think the real learning has come from sitting, 20 or 30 of us in session, and sharing experience and expertise.

Damian Roberts, Strategic Director, Waverley Borough Council:

One of the things I’ve found most interesting about this programme, is that there is a lot of jargon, a lot of technical terminology, that makes it feel as if commissioning is something which can only be done by a procurement specialist.

I think the Academy has shown that at its core, commissioning is basic good strategic management, from customer insight at the beginning stages to how you manage an ongoing relationship within a partnership. So I think it’s made it much more accessible and in turn has made it much easier for me to go and sell those ideas and messages within my own organisation.

Group from Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Leicestershire:

Our Victim and Witness 100 day plan was primarily developed during the programme. The Academy provided us with precious thinking time, in a period spent away from the office, to reflect on the PCC’s vision for victims and witnesses and consider the many lessons learnt from the guest speakers.

Together with peer challenge, this resulted in a plan which has provided focus for this piece of commissioning.

Tom Woodcock, Public Health Commissioning Lancashire County Council:

Without a doubt we have had the latest most current thinking from central government departments. We have had excellent input from service providers, other commissioners and the debate has been fantastic.

Linda Uren, Gloucestershire County Council:

I have been involved in commissioning for a long time and done lots of other training courses but this has made me think about different concepts. Things like how does it look from a provider’s point of view, how can we invest in our communities financially and with resources and what we need to do next, given context and the financial difficulties we all face.

Mike Wheatley, Prison Substance Misuse Co­Commissioning, National Offender Management Service:

For me, it’s about using the learning and the opportunities and the network that we’ve formed to go back to my organisation and lead by example, making more of a contribution and allow other people to learn from the opportunities that have been afforded to me.

Mathew Kendal, Assistant Director, Adult Social Care and Health, London Borough of Barnet:

It’s a worthwhile investment. I found it a really useful experience. Coming into it with other people from your organisation, makes a big difference in terms of being able to go back into the office and think about what you’ve taken from each of the sessions and each of the site visits and translate that into what might you do differently within your organisation.

Steve Scott, Department for Work and Pensions:

I’ve found the Commissioning Academy to be a really useful experience for a number of reasons, but the main one is that it provides a fantastic and unique opportunity to hear some of the theoretical stuff alongside some really practical examples of what others have done within government and a combination of those 2 things has been of enormous personal development but also of real practical use in the workplace as well.