There’s never a dull moment in the world of public services. Get your reading caps on this month, we’ve got a bumper crop of reports for you.
Carillion and on
NCVO submitted written evidence to the Public Administration and Accounts Committee’s inquiry into the outsourcing of public services. You can read our full evidence on the parliament website, or have a look at Rebecca’s blog for a quicker read.
Elsewhere, the Institute for Government have also hosted a podcast with speakers including Serco CEO Rupert Soames OBE on when government outsourcing works which is well worth a listen, and Mencap have started to appeal a ruling on wages for sleep in workers that will have serious financial implications for charities delivering care.
SROI on social prescribing shows success
Kensington and Chelsea Social Council and Envoy Partnership have published a report evaluating the impact of the self-care social prescribing model using a social return on investment approach (SROI). The report finds a number of beneficial impacts including reduced avoidable need for hospitalisations, reduced need for GP practice hours, and reduced levels of physical pain and depression for patients.
Anyone struggling to follow the pace of change in health and social care should have a look at the Kings Fund’s latest explainer on what integrated care systems are, and how they’re definitely not accountable care systems.
Keeping it Local
Locality have published their final report in their strand of work on local economic resilience. As well as making recommendations, the Powerful Communities, Strong Economies report provides a practical framework that local authorities can use to commission for economic resilience and community organisations can use to evidence their local economic impact.
Training and events
- NCVO Annual Conference: ‘Different Thinking, Bigger Difference’ – London, 16 April. I’ll be running a workshop on when charities should think about getting into or out of public service delivery
- Business planning for the voluntary sector – London, 27 April
- Strategic planning: Creating the right process for your organisation – London, 11 May 2018
Michael was our senior policy officer until January 2019, covering issues around charity tax and finance (including social investment) and the impact of the economy on the sector. 
