Crown Representative for Voluntary, Community & Social Enterprises

1. Crown Representative for Voluntary, Community & Social Enterprises IoF Consultants Group AGM, 20th November 2012 Michael O’Toole Crown Representative for VCSEs

2. Agenda • Background • Strategic objectives for role • My priorities • Tools available • Fundraising & Tendering UNCLASSIFIED

3. Strategic objectives for the role • Open up more business to VCSE organisations, influence public sector commissioning and procurement • Build strategic dialogue between government and the VCSE sector • Strong VCSE voice at the highest levels and communicate key developments out • Open up public sector business to VCSEs, by: • Make it easier for more VCSs to tender for public contracts • Decisive interventions on public procurement policy and practices, working with other government departments leading major commercial opportunities • Help VCSEs take services to the public sector market and remove barriers to market entrance • Understand needs and develop VCSE skills and capacity to win and deliver public service contracts UNCLASSIFIED

4. Strategic objectives for the role • Build strategic commercial engagement with representative groups / stakeholders: • Use intelligence on opportunities and barriers to VCSE public service delivery to improve policies, processes and develop government’s procurement capabilities • Disseminate / encourage central policy and procedures to the wider public sector • Commercial insights to government’s overall public service reforms • Work with Crown Representatives / Commercial Leads, procurement, public service reform, OCS and Departments UNCLASSIFIED

5. The role of the Crown Representative for VCSE • New role created as part of Government’s commitment to enable charities and social enterprises to do more • Government wants to improve its relationship with our sector and open up public service opportunities • Build upon making it easier for more VCSEs to tender for public contracts, e.g. - • All contracts now published including under the £100K threshold • PQQs gone for <£100K contracts (simplified for above) .

6. My priorities • Engage with sector & listen • Focus on engaging with representative groups and other stakeholders about VCSE issues • Understand skills requirements and work with others to build capacity and expertise for VCSEs • Demonstrate good practice and case studies • Ensure visibility of opportunities, pre-engagement, awareness within commissioning • Specific interventions in programmes to provide VCSE voice

7. My priorities: pre-market engagement • Be part of the conversation – understand policy and commissioning intentions in your sector • Read and respond to policy consultations • Review procurement pipelines increasingly being published to look for possible opportunities • Sign up for email alerts on Contracts Finder & Funding Central • Monitor PINs, register interest in future procurements and attend information days • Build on your customer base & use them for references • Help buyers shape their procurement specification during informal pre-market engagement

8. My priorities: open up business to VCSEs • Providing information on useful developments and opportunities via Twitter and providing updates to the VCSE sector through my website • Product Surgeries • VCSEs present their services directly to Government buyers • Improve Government buyers' awareness of VCSEs • Providing input into the development of public procurement process & making direct interventions into specific procurements to ensure excellent VCSEs can effectively offer their services to government departments and agencies

9. Procurements above £10,000 are now published on Contracts Finder

10. Supplier Feedback Service – “Mystery Shopper”

11. Fundraising and Tendering • Success in tendering has key different ingredients for success compared to fundraising and grants • Tendering is highly competitive – often against commercial business development teams • There are multiple stakeholder needs to satisfy • Understanding the risks and contingency planning for a performance contract are potentially more critical than in a grant • Especially with PbR contracts • Many VCSEs don’t have capacity or expertise to respond to tender opportunities UNCLASSIFIED

12. Tendering tips • Analyse the spec & supporting documents very carefully. Understand the liabilities, risks, performance drivers, variables, etc • Use Q&A/clarification process to highlight key differentiators • Allow plenty of time & resources for content preparation, writing, review, proofing, and proofing again! • Build in a ‘fresh eyes’ review/proof of the near final version (sense check by someone not involved in writing the tender) • A bid will not win unless strengths are clear - this is a competition – sell yourself! • Be positive, solution-focussed and concentrate on meeting both the beneficiary’s and commissioner’s needs UNCLASSIFIED

13. Tendering tips • Flexibility to ensure delivery is tuned to meet the specific needs set out and offer enhancements • Offer unique ideas not specified, over and above the specification. • Consider sharing upsides – offer continuous improvements and innovation • Think of it as an exam - answer the questions directly and comprehensively • Where possible use an Executive Summary to highlight your USP, fit, track-record, key evidence and solution summary • After the contract award, whether successful or not: • Find out who won – this informs competitor intelligence and may open up possible sub-contractor opportunities • Always make use of feedback facilities – win or lose, learn and improve UNCLASSIFIED

14. Tendering tips • Public sector is making the process simpler but it will rightly be held accountable for the procurement decisions it makes - take the process very seriously • Evidence matters - cite evidence in your bid and use case studies, references, beneficiary stories, customer feedback, general praise, awards, independent accreditations, and positive media coverage • If you say your system will show or do something, prove it - include a screen shot of how it works or other tangible evidence • This is a competitive process – sell, sell, sell! UNCLASSIFIED

15. Fundraising and Tendering • Consultants can work VCSEs to: • Develop Tenders or review drafts • Contract management and monitoring • Market & competitor research • Models of delivery: sub-contracting, partnerships, consortia • Policy Development and Revision • Contract negotiations UNCLASSIFIED

16. How you can help - feedback • It is early days for this new role and I look forward to building relationships across the sector  • I welcome feedback on how we can do more to help VCSEs value your comments • Questions? • Michael.o’toole@cabinet-office.gsi.gov.uk • http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/content/crown-representative-voluntary-community-and-social-enterprises • Please follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/otoole_michael