Posted By Alex Le Vey on November 3, 2011

A big ambition of the current Conservative-led Coalition Government is to encourage more not-for-profit organisations (NFPs) to bid for public service contracts and run public services. To me, this is a really fantastic idea, and will strengthen public services in the United Kingdom,  if services become cheaper to the tax-payer as a by-product, even better. Quality though, must be the primary objective, and I believe that NFPs will be more focused on the quality of the service they provide than those from different sectors. Why? Because they care!

A good, strong ethos isn’t something that you can quantify easily, but by and large, most NFPs have it in abundance. They care primarily about their client group/beneficiaries, and genuinely want to make their lives better. This ethos makes NFPs the perfect partner to public services. Their bottom line is the outcomes they achieve for service users rather than profit, so it is in their interest to ensure that services run well.

After all, most funders will want to see what difference their money is making (see my previous blog post: To Fund Impact or Activity… that is the Question!), and Government will be no different. This is further reinforced by  Government in its acceptance of MP Chris White’s private member’s bill requiring councils, the NHS and other bodies to consider more than just cost when awarding contracts. What’s more, the European Parliament has also ‘thrown its weight behind Social Value in Public Services’. If services deteriorate as part of this opening up of public services, Government will most definitely be left with egg on its face.

It’s not all good news though. On the whole NFPs just do not have the same capacity to bid for Public Sector contracts as their competitors. Large private sector companies such as Serco and Capita (to name just two) have a huge amount of resource, and know what councils will be looking for. Yet they continually return mixed results, naturally favouring profit over quality. The not-for-profit sector needs to skill itself up, and quickly, to benefit from this great opportunity. 3SC, for example, is an innovative and groundbreaking organisation that supports NFPs, and bids for public sector contracts on their behalf. They allow NFPs to do what they do best, and take care of the bidding process for them.

Whilst this is a great short-term fix for all and a longer term fix for many smaller organisations, for medium to large size NFPs I would like to see increased levels of sharing amongst organisations with successful bidding teams. The not-for-profit sector has traditionally always done this well; there is a fantastic culture of sharing experience and skills. The not-for-profit sector is essentially one of openness and improvement; what’s good for one is normally good for all; the whole sector shares in each organisation’s success.

For me the ‘powerhouse’ of NFPs delivering public services is Turning Point, a multi-million pound organisation delivering social care across England and Wales, to great effect. Elsewhere, social enterprises are springing up all over the place, in a bid to deliver better public services. Evidence has shown that they are better for the public, and more appropriate and better designed for staff. Notably in health, Central Surrey Health where the first of such organisations are recording fantastic results, improving the lives of patients and delivering a cost-efficient service at the same time. Their work has been commended time and time again, but they lost out on a £500m contract to a health care provider, possibly due to a lack of bidding expertise. If Turning Point and the other success stories out there embarked upon a real knowledge-sharing endeavour, and perhaps began offering training to social enterprises, we could see a great deal more success in NFPs winning Public Service contracts.

The government is doing its bit; now it’s time for the sector to play its part, help each other out, and further the good work of NFPs. I am positive we can see a drastic improvement in public services.

Categories: Charity sector commentary
Tags: Bidding, charity, Chris White, Government, Not-for-profit, Private sector, Public Services, Quality, Service Delivery, Social Enterprise, Training