What is it about?
Commissioning as a planning, resource mobilization and prioritization activity needs to harness user and community co-production of public services and outcomes. Based on a Public Value Model, we map how commissioners can go beyond traditional consultation and participation processes to achieve co-commissioning with citizens. Moreover, we discuss how public sector organisations can use their strategic commissioning process to support and embed citizen voice and action in their prevention, treatment and rehabilitation strategies.
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Why is it important?
Approaches to embedding co-production within the commissioning cycle can be divided into ‘citizen voice’ (in which citizens make substantive contributions to co-commissioning, co-design and co-assessment) and ‘citizen action’ (in which citizens make substantive contributions to co-delivery). The conceptual framework in this paper demonstrates that the balance between citizen voice and action varies across each of the four phases of the commissioning cycle. Consequently, attempts to segment co-production activity into neat, non-interacting categories is almost certainly doomed, as many citizens who are keen to use their voice in the decision making process are often also prepared to undertake at least some actions which help to implement the decisions concerned; and many citizens who are deeply committed to actions in support of public services are likely to want to express their views on how their time might be spent more effectively and how outcomes might be improved.
Perspectives
A fascinating aspect of this article is how it demonstrates that both citizen voice and action are required in each of the core public sector intervention strategies, namely problem prevention, detection, treatment and rehabilitation. The co-commissioning of services which implement these strategies needs to ensure not only that co-production is embedded within them to improve outcomes but also that the approach to co-production conforms to public governance principles, in line with the Public Value Model. By having a more explicit conceptual framework within which to highlight how citizens can contribute to the Analyse, Plan, Do, and Review phases of the commissioning cycle, co-commissioning can be seen to be a core element of the achievement of public value. Moreover, by demonstrating how central is co-production within the range of public intervention strategies, user and community co-production can be rescued from the potential accusation of being just one more ‘nice to have’ idea and can be showcased rather as a ‘must have’ element to improve public value.
Professor Tony Bovaird
University of Birmingham
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Co-commissioning of public services and outcomes in the UK: Bringing co-production into the strategic commissioning cycle, Public Money & Management, April 2019, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.1080/09540962.2019.1592905.
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