Michael O’Toole says a key part of his new role as Crown
Representative for the sector will be to help voluntary organisations win more public sector contracts. Here's how.

I was appointed as the first Crown Representative for the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector in June 2012. This new role has been created as part of the government’s commitment to enable charities and social enterprises to do more.

Today there is a huge opportunity for our sector to play a key role in delivering our public services. I see massive potential for more voluntary sector organisations to provide high-quality and cost-effective public services to those who need them most. A key focus of my new role will be to open up more of these contracts to VCSE organisations, by giving them the tools they need to achieve this.

We want to make it easier for these organisations to tender for public contracts, and already this government has made significant strides to improve the procurement process. For instance the pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) has been removed for contracts with a value of less than £100,000 and average procurement timescales have been dramatically reduced over the past two years. Such measures are removing some of the burdensome and costly nature of bidding which has previously prevented a number of VCSEs from taking part.

But we can go even further. As part of my role, I will engage closely with the sector, listen to its concerns and gather intelligence on barriers which are preventing organisations from bidding for public service contracts. I’ll achieve this by engaging closely with representative groups and sector stakeholders, along with talking to VCSEs delivering services on how we can improve policies, processes and further develop government’s procurement capabilities. Using this knowledge, I will work to build upon the work already done to improve the procurement process and help shape policy to improve the relationship between the government and the sector.

Mystery shopping

The Cabinet Office supplier feedback service ‘Mystery Shopper’ is a vital tool. It gives VCSE suppliers or potential suppliers a direct route to challenge government procurers to be more transparent and open, to query poor or overly-bureaucratic practices, and report instances where they feel shut out of the market. We can maintain the anonymity of the complainant when dealing with the public body involved (if requested to do so), and we do not reveal the complainant’s identity when the results are published. Additionally the service is able to take on cases raised by umbrella bodies on behalf of a member. The results of these investigations are then published on the Cabinet Office website, including the names of the authority involved and details of the case.

This work contributes to the Cabinet Office objective of making government more efficient, and makes sure the voice of the sector is heard. It is already making a difference. In terms of impact, around 75 per cent of the cases closed to date have resulted in a change to an existing procurement or a commitment to change future practice.