Public Sector Commissioning: Experiences of Voluntary Organizations Delivering Health and Social Services

Theorising lifestyle drift in health promotion: explaining community and voluntary sector engagement practices in disadvantaged areas

“…Others have described a process of CVS mission drift (Macmillan, 2010, p. 7), with evidence that organisations have adapted organisational goals (Cairns, Harris, & Hutchison, 2006), the remit of their work (Shared Intelligence, 2009), and working practices (Chew & Osborne, 2009) to fit with the requirements of a new set of funders. Indeed, Martikke and Moxham (2010) argue that the constraints of contracts devised in partnership with statutory bodies limit the responsiveness of the sector to the needs of its users. Hupe and Hill (2007, p. 279) have shown that front-line professionals, so-called street-level bureaucrats , are steered simultaneously by the demands of colleagues, managers and policy makers and consequently, they argue, implementation of public policy is best understood with reference to the social networks in which practitioners are embedded.…”

Commission incomplete: exploring the new model for purchasing public services from the third sector

“…In relation to the third sector, a consistent theme has been disappointment with progress in fully involving TSOs throughout the commissioning cycle; and thus failure to maximise the role of the third sector in contributing novel approaches and user and community ‘voices’ (Murray, 2011; White, 2011). Literature highlights that TSOs face obstacles to greater involvement in commissioning, including knowledge gaps on both sides, as well as TSOs’ lack of the financial capacity, skills and size to engage in such time- and resource-consuming activities (Packwood, 2007; Martikke and Moxham, 2010). It has also highlighted fears of the adverse impact on the sector through threats to its independence, mission and long-term sustainability, suggesting that even potentially ‘contracting-ready’ TSOs might shy away from commissioning processes (Osborne and McLaughlin, 2002; Buckingham, 2009).…”

“…Literature highlights that TSOs face obstacles to greater involvement in commissioning, including knowledge gaps on both sides, as well as TSOs' lack of the financial capacity, skills and size to engage in such timeand resource-consuming activities (Packwood, 2007;Martikke and Moxham, 2010). It has also highlighted fears of the adverse impact on the sector through threats to its independence, mission and long-term sustainability, suggesting that even potentially 'contracting-ready' TSOs might shy away from commissioning processes (Osborne and McLaughlin, 2002;Buckingham, 2009).…”

“…Academic perspectives tend to be more critical, suggesting that commissioning is central to an agenda of marketisation and privatisation, weakening democratic control of services (Larner and Butler, 2005;Davies, 2008). However, between these poles there is a relative lack of literature based on empirical research examining in detail the reality and impact of commissioning in practice (Huxley et al, 2010;Martikke and Moxham, 2010;Bovaird et al, 2012). Research has however highlighted that the status and ultimate impact of commissioning in affecting the design and delivery of health and social care systems has been ambiguous, and commissioning has not always been well understood by different groups of professionals (Checkland et al, 2012;Harlock, 2014).…”

Public sector commissioning and the third sector: Old wine in new bottles?

“…However, these concerns over independence are certainly not new and echo the debate over the 'contract culture' in the 1990s, a debate which seems to resurface when the sector has perceived itself to be under threat or enhanced pressure (Macmillan, 2010). Martikke and Moxham (2010) found that not only a large majority of their respondents perceived commissioning as a threat to their organizational independence as well as to their reputation, but also many of the specific problems they experienced related as much to the contracted nature of the service delivery as to the process of commissioning more specifically.…”