Commissioning of services for children is exhibiting a trend towards increased local or sub-regional level activity, with some of the large pan-regional procurement efforts of the last decade beginning to fragment. At the same time, we are seeing the continued consolidation and expansion of some service providers.
Is this divergence important? Why is it happening? What are the implications for children, commissioners, providers and policymakers? This article identifies the trends, while next month we will examine the implications more fully.
Pooling resources
In the years following the initial involvement of private and voluntary sector providers in children’s services, local authority commissioners recognised the potential of pooling their efforts, resources, and, in theory, their combined purchasing power. Collaboration among councils became geographically based – examples of area-wide alliances included pan London, North West Placements and Eastern Region 7.
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