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Commissioning and procurement: great ideas from a buzzing conference (27th July 2010)

The Forum is coordinating the way forward for a number of ideas on commissioning and procurement from its conference at Goole on 16th June. Eleven participants, from all sectors, volunteered to be part of a working group, which had its first meeting in July.

Seventy people from all over Yorkshire and the Humber, and from the private and public sector, as well as voluntary and community organisations, took part in the conference. The atmosphere at the Courtyard in Goole was vibrant and stimulating all day.

keynote speakers
The day began with two excellent speakers.

• Ed Mayo (Secretary General, Co-operatives UK) - ‘The Campaign For Co-operation’
• Professor Andrew Kerslake (Associate Director, the Institute of Public Care - ‘ “There may be trouble ahead...” Key Issues in Commissioning Adult Social Care’
(these presentations are collated in one summary document – see below)

“Complimentary and interesting presentations”
“Inspiring, interesting, funny, well done”

workshops (world café)
We used, for the first time, a world café approach to workshops. Short presentations were followed by small, constantly changing discussion groups, so each discussion was cross-fertilised by participants form all round the room. Each small group aimed to finish with one key point to take forward (these are all collated in one summary document – see below).

• From national to local (Stephen Oversby, Barnardo’s)
• Partnership with local authorities (Detty Tyler, East Riding Voluntary Action Services)
• Partnership working for health and commissioning: getting more for less (Norma Thompson, NHS Leeds)
• Choices and rights (Duncan Edge, Choices and Rights Disability Coalition)“This session was a real eye opener”

“Discussion format very useful - made for focussed and interesting discussion.”

performance
Performers from Castaway (Goole Accessible Music Theatre) created a magical atmosphere outside in the Courtyard, as people participants had lunch in the sunshine.

“The reason we are all here.”

ideas bank
5 very specific ideas were aired for just 6 minutes each. Participants were then asked to spend their specially minted money – Yorkies – on whichever idea they thought was most effective and feasible:(these are all collated in one summary document – see below)

Supporting BME organisations to deliver (Muzahid Khan, Yorkshire & the Humber Forum) - 25 Yorkies
A commissioning and procurement framework (Donald Macintosh, Community Regeneration Partnership) - 36 Yorkies
Participatory budgeting (Heather Blakey, International Centre for Participation Studies) - 82 Yorkies
Social impact bonds (Neil Berry, Development Trusts Association) - 136 Yorkies
Social value clauses in contracts (Tony Bailey and Dean Backhouse, Leeds City Council) - 69 Yorkies

key issues, discussion points and opportunities
what did participants think?

90% of participants felt the conference ‘completely’ or ‘partly’ met their expectations
“…informative and thought provoking.”

“ More than my expectations.”

“…very interesting and a good learning opportunity”

Keynote speaker presentations
Workshop presentations
Ideas Bank
Conference Key Points

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