News & Blog
Check out this page to find out what we've been up to, hear our honest take on the state of play in commissioning and procurement, and to keep up to date with the latest developments at Candour Collaborations!
Ian Thurlby-Campbell, Head of Business Development at 3SC
I always thoroughly enjoy working with the Candour Collaboration team. Their depth of insight, analytical skill, and efficiency helps to bring business activities to life and deliver outstanding results. I’ve worked with Candour on a range of projects, in both business development and project management, and am always delighted with their work.
Big Society Capital publishes Justice Market Statement
Big Society Capital recently published their Justice Market Statement , setting out social investment options for primes and tier 1 and 2 providers interested in getting involved in the Transforming Rehabilitation procurement process. This is expected to kick off over the next couple of weeks, so we were interested to explore their ideas for supporting market engagement and participation.
In general, their Statement is short and sweet. However, one thing really caught our eye – as a ‘wholesaler’, BSC is only able to invest in ‘intermediaries’. This normally refers to social investment specialists such as Big Issue Invest and CAF Venturesome, but their current definition is pretty vague: ‘organisations that sub-contract at least 50% of contract value to social sector organisations’ and ‘organisations that provide a range of services (e.g. performance management, contract management, negotiation support) for subcontractor social sector organisations’. Does this mean that, in principle, private sector primes could be backed by social investors?
We think that this relatively wide definition presents an excellent opportunity for new consortia and social primes to emerge as intermediaries, cutting out ‘middle man’ costs and additional rates of return on investment which we know to be prohibitive to organisations considering social investment. It could (and in our opinion, should) introduce a greater level of delivery-based expertise and operational understanding into the social investment market. Something that is sorely lacking right now. This can only be a good thing.
What are the other implications of BSC potentially opening up the market to new kinds of intermediary? Should private sector primes be able to access social investment if it is going to flow down into the smaller organisations that actually need it, or should they be willing to invest the required levels of capital directly? Let us know your take, via Contact Us, or get in touch directly.
Rob Macmillan and James Rees, Third Sector Research Centre, University of Birmingham
We were involved in a successful collaboration with Candour and others, between January and March 2013, to produce the VCS Capacity Building Action Plan for the Ministry of Justice. Candour managed the project and partnership effectively throughout, and we were impressed by their professional and focused approach to this complex consultation and formulation of policy recommendations, most of which were accepted by MoJ.
Business Development Lead, IT company, Yorkshire
We found the support provided worthwhile and productive and Natasha was proficient and enthusiastic. She helped us to assess our position objectively, and getting independent information was useful as it allowed us to understand how our tender processes and responses could be improved
Fiona Sheil, Public Service Delivery Network Officer at NCVO
Working with Mike I was immediately confident of his level of knowledge, ability to draw strong analytical conclusions, and to communicate clearly. This made Candour a perfect partner for our work: I had confidence in their quality and also their honesty and commitment as a partner. Consequently, the process was seamless – and our joint bid successful.
DWP consultation on Work Programme
The Department for Work and Pensions will tomorrow launch its consultation on the development of their 2013 commissioning strategy for welfare-to-work services. It will be seeking views on how to use private, voluntary, community and public sector providers to deliver future services. We were largely pleased with the Ministry of Justice’s recent consultation process into probation reform, and their inclusion of many challenges presented by providers in their ‘A Strategy for Reform’ consultation response. We hope that the welfare-to-work provider base also comes up with constructive, commercial ideas for improving future service provision – and that the DWP listens.