Passionate about Manchester?
Want to help local charities make a difference in the city?
Macc is looking for committed and caring people to get involved in shaping the future of our work to support and develop a thriving voluntary, community and faith sector in Manchester. Our role includes:
When the Work Programme was first introduced as part of the new Welfare to Work agenda the LSEN organised a number of meetings, seminars and events to inform voluntary organisations about the opportunities and risks of getting involved in the Programme as a sub-contractor.
It became clear, early on in these discussions, that the Programme did not recognise the difficulties many people at a distance from the labour market would find in re-engaging in sustained employment.
The first of what is intended to be a rolling programme of masterclasses designed to increase the expertise of the voluntary and community sector in bidding for contracts is happening on the 25th and 26th of March in Manchester. This is part of a wider programme that includes the creation of a commissioning academy.
The Government (through the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS)) is currently consulting on proposed changes to Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (TUPE) regulations. TUPE, the requirement on organisations awarded contracts by public authorities to take on staff at their original terms and conditions (for a limited period), is seen as a major barrier, by some, to the outsourcing of public services.
Transforming Rehabilitation is a government proposal to contract out and extend probation services starting in 2015. The role of Probation Services will be restricted to high risk offenders. The current proposals, which are being consulted on, are that services will be delivered by a small number of prime contractors (Primes) in 16 areas which are likely to be co-terminous with the Work Programme areas.
Regional Voices have published a short briefing document for the voluntary and community sector called "Influencing Local Commissioning on Health and Care". It describes the role and membership of Health and Well Being Boards, what a Joint Strategic Needs Assessment is and how to contribute to it, and how both of these contribute to the process of designing a Joint Health and Well Being Strategy.
NCVO (National Council for Voluntary Organisations) and Serco, a company that holds a wide variety of government contracts, are to agree together a set of quality standards for the relationship between prime contractors (often known as primes) and sub-contractors. These standards will cover areas such as risk, fair payment and how much support is offered by the prime. These will represent good practice and will not be legally enforceable. The time-scale is rapid but there is no date set as yet.
The Academy is supported by the Cabinet Office, the Local Government Association, the Department for Communities and Local Government, the Ministry of Justice and the National Offender Management Service, the Department for Education, the Department of Health, the Department for Work and Pensions, and the Home Office.
The Social Value Act came into force on 31st Jan 2013. It requires public bodies to consider how they can improve the social impact of the services they are commissioning as well as consulting on the services to be procured. So far none of the commissioning bodies in Manchester have indicated how they are intending to implement the Act.
A useful guide has been produced by Social Enterprise UK.
The commissioning strategy sets out South Manchester Clinical Commissioning Group’s vision and commissioning priorities for the coming years. It includes an outline of the South Manchester area in terms of population and need as well as explaining the financial picture in South Manchester.