Commissioning in respect of Children’s Services means –
“…developing an overall picture of children’s needs within an area, and developing provision through public, private, voluntary and community providers to respond to those needs.” (Every Child Matters)
Joint commissioning activity takes place where agencies work together to plan and commission services to address the same issue or meet the needs of a particular group of children/young people, or where areas have shared concerns about a group of children/young people.
Within Oldham an Integrated Commissioning Group has been set up as part of the Children's Trust. This multi-agency group is charged with the task of setting an agreed strategic direction for comissioning services for children and young people against the priorities identified in the Children and Young People Block of the Local Area Agreement and the Children and Young People Plan. It has representation from Oldham Council, PCT and voluntary and community sector.
Taking a needs-based approach the group has developed an Integrated Commissioning Framework which embeds the principles identified in the Oldham Partnership Commissioning Framework and the DCSF Joint Planning and Commissioning Framework for Children, Young People and Maternity Services (2006). The group is committed to commissioning services from a wide range of providers including the voluntary and community sector to enable an individualised, preventative approach to service design and delivery based on the diverse needs of the local communities.
Invitations for expressions of interest against Commissioning Specifications to deliver LAA objectives are advertised on the Oldham Partnership website and more widely as appropriate.
Other useful websites:
Oldham Partnership Commissioning Framework
For further information on the work of the Integrated Commissioning Group please contact the Commissioning Manager on 0161 770 6671