The Office for Civil Society is piloting a programme to help commissioners understand the best techniques to work with civil society organisations.

The programme, known as the OCS Commissioning School, was launched last week.

It is a specialist arm of the Commissioning Academy, a training programme which launched last year for public sector workers, intended to improve their knowledge and commissioning efficiency.

The civil society pilot will be run by the Office for Civil Society alongside consultancy Red Quadrant. It will trial an “intensive, interactive model where public service commissioners will work on a real life commissioning challenge through a range of expert speakers, site visits and service user sessions”.

The Cabinet Office said attendees will learn about civil society approaches to topics, such as getting value for money, co-commissioning for joint outcomes, mobilising service users and communities, and working with the voluntary sector.

The pilot will take place in the City of London and the London Borough of Hackney, and will look at young people’s mental health and wellbeing.

Rob Wilson (pictured), minister for civil society, said: “We have listened carefully to feedback about the importance of supporting commissioners to design better quality, more efficient services and to build the commissioning skills which can make the most of the expertise and innovation of the voluntary sector.

“This is why we have been working with the Commissioning Academy to develop the Office for Civil Society Commissioning School and I am delighted to announce the pilot with City of London and the London Borough of Hackney today. I look forward to seeing the results of this pilot on this important issue over the coming months.”