This will be the flagship module for the School of Public Policy's new Graduate Diploma programme: Public Service Commissioning and Procurement.
The module examines the socio-economic and policy context of commissioning and procurement ¿ specifically how these issues have become priorities in public sector reform and modernisation. The practice of commissioning, while traditionally based on different models by sector (i.e. health, social care, education, housing, criminal justice etc.) is becoming increasingly more broadly based on ideas and themes garnered from all sectors. Individuals working at senior levels and middle management in health organisations, social care, and all sectors of local government are being challenged to think laterally about how to most effectively commission and procure.
The module will ground students in a solid knowledge of the history of commissioning and procurement in the UK, both in healthcare and local government, and other areas of public service. It will examine models of commissioning and procurement and engage students in strategic assessment of how these models are the same/different across levels of government as well as in specific service sectors. The module will examine key theoretical and conceptual models underpinning commissioning and procurement that have developed in the UK with comparison to other countries and contexts.
In the current context of the New Joint Commissioning framework and the evolution of the White Paper priorities (October 2006) it will be critical for decision-makers to understand joint commissioning, to understand how commissioner-provider relations have changed/blurred, to anticipate how local authorities will take joint commissioning forward, and to be able to strategically assess the environment as ongoing change puts pressure and risk on choices made around service delivery. The growing use of technology also makes new demands on decision makers - this module will explore the contexts of using e-government in procurement and commissioning to ensure all elements of the changing landscape are integrated into the students' mindsets.