From: Subject: Public service users can benefit from third sector consortium hubs | Public Leaders Network | Guardian Professional Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2011 17:57:39 +0100 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; type="text/html"; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0000_01CBF2F1.C9F57D20" X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.5994 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0000_01CBF2F1.C9F57D20 Content-Type: text/html; charset="utf-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://www.guardian.co.uk/public-leaders-network/2011/apr/01/third-sector-consortium-hubs =EF=BB=BF Public service users = can benefit from third sector consortium hubs | Public Leaders Network | = Guardian Professional = =

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Public service users can benefit from third sector consortium = hubs

Tom = Levitt explains=20 how public managers can use third sector consortium hubs to efficiently=20 outsource services

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Tom Levitt
Gua= rdian=20 Professional, Friday 1 April=20 2011 14.10 BST

Tom Levitt. Photographer: Flying = Colours=20 Photography Ltd/Getty Images

There are two reasons why as a public sector service manager you = might be=20 seeking to outsource a service: either you have made a strategic = decision in the=20 best interests of service users =E2=80=93 council tax-payers and others = =E2=80=93 or you have=20 been told that you have to.

There are a number of routes available. The service will be run = either by an=20 in-house mutual, inspired by the buy-out ethos of the 'big society', or = someone=20 from the outside. This could be a private company, a third sector body = or a=20 combination of private and third sector bodies led by a prime = contractor.

Or it could be one of the new kids on the block, a third sector = consortium=20 hub.

For any named local service there are likely to be few voluntary = bodies with=20 the capacity to run the service by themselves. Not only may they be too = small,=20 they need the skills to draw up a tender bid on the basis of full cost = recovery,=20 negotiate a deal, implement it through a transition period and sustain = it for=20 the long term. They need to procure goods and services on a larger scale = than=20 that which they are used to and even get into partnerships at short = notice with=20 strangers whose skill sets may not properly complement their own.

And when the next contract comes along others will go through the = same=20 process again, from scratch.

The idea of a local, permanent third sector consortium hub is = attractive both=20 to contractors from the sector who will have the difficult work done for = them,=20 and to the commissioners themselves, who will know that they will be = dealing=20 with a single consortium representative whose job is to deliver on a=20 contract.

In Bedford, potential third sector providers of almost any service = have gone=20 a stage further. The Council for Voluntary Services (CVS) dipped its = toes into=20 the hub game and has now jumped in with both feet by setting up a new = structure=20 called ConsortiCo. = This hub is=20 owned by local voluntary sector organisations and run as a = not-for-profit legal=20 entity equivalent to the 'single purpose vehicle' that might run a PFI = contract.=20 It acts as a go-between for the commissioner and local service = providers.

The hub will invite three to 10 third sector partners from within its = broader=20 membership to be part of a consortium for bidding for a particular = contract. It=20 is building experience of tendering, negotiating and delivering on = contractual=20 undertakings and it brings the added advantage to its members of saving = costs=20 through centralised procurement.

Crucially, the risks associated with failing to deliver the contract = are=20 carried by the hub and not by the organisations or individual trustees. = Being=20 involved with several contracts at once reduces the risk of calamitous = failure,=20 too.

ConsortiCo was a response to a perceived complication of procurement = rules;=20 the legal entity gives more protection to all concerned than any = operation=20 within the CVS itself could. A couple of other cities are taking the = idea=20 forward. 3SC, born from the Social Investment=20 Business which used to run Futurebuilders, = and the Shaw Trust, = one of the=20 third sector's more successful large scale tenderers, is looking to = provide a=20 local hub service on a national basis.

The hub idea is catching on and the third sector is getting smart. = This=20 doesn't mean that commissioners are up against worthy opponents. What it = does=20 mean is that commissioners and third sector contractors can look each = other in=20 the eye and talk the same language: which should bring advantages both = to them=20 and to their service users.

Tom Levitt is a former MP and now freelance consultant

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