Commissioning and procurement

Income for delivering public services is the sector’s largest source of funding. Think carefully whether public service delivery is the right strategy for you. This section is a wiki (part of our iKnowHow project) so you can help make it even better.

Today, voluntary and community organisations are engaged in a broad range of public service activities in areas such as health, social care, education and training, and housing. We now deliver £10.9 billion worth of public service contracts, and £3 billion worth of grant-funded activity.

Public sector bodies (such as government, health trusts and local authorities) commission services through the competitive process of processing bids to win contracts for delivery known as procurement.

This new iKnowHow section takes you through the process of working out whether delivering public services is right for your organisation. Learn more about commissioning and procurement.

If you decide that your organisation is ready to deliver services, let us take you through the stages: 

• procurement and contracting

• service delivery

• evaluation and decommissioning.

We also look at themes and issues.

Have your say

Why not start or join a conversation in the public service income forum.