Future Catalyst

Person- and Community-Driven Planning and Commissioning and the benefits to local communities and economies

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Commissioning in Context

In order to deal with significant changes across Local Government, many Councils are looking at

the opportunities a commissioning model can provide for doing things differently, aligning

services to outcomes and in the process work with an ever-decreasing budget and workforce –

the ‘doing more with less’ scenario many Councils and other Public bodies are grappling with.

This paper aims to introduce an alternative perspective on the commissioning context for

Councils to consider. Person-driven Commissioning places the control and responsibility for

meeting outcomes in the hands of individuals and communities. This paper also evidences that

principles of Social Renewal help to strengthen citizenship, achieve better-quality, person-

centred wrap-around support and build stronger local economies.

The Current Model

Commissioning models insist on the use of outcomes to ensure the needs of citizens are met. In

Adult Social Care the Commissioning Model is called Personalisation, which - as part of its wider

principles of higher quality care - aims to steer away from one-size-fits-all solutions, and moves

towards more personalised and proactive services.

For Councils who are grappling with significant internal challenges, this is practically impossible to

achieve as budget and resource restrictions lead to less time to work directly with the citizens

who can positively influence the services. The positive intention and ambition however remains,

leading Councils to consider working in partnership with other organisations to bring co-creation

and personalisation to life. While there is no doubt that the intention is positive, Councils are in

danger of passing the problem of ‘doing more with less’ to other organisations without having

truly resolved the original challenges of less budget, less resources and less staff.

The current model considers the traditional Public Sector delivery pathways as the ‘right’

organisational vehicle to bring about the changes needed.

The Behavioural Context

Behavioural psychology has concerned itself for many years with the impact of interactions on

learned dependency and how to achieve changes in relationships to positively influence

behaviour. These findings not only apply on a micro/peer-to-peer level, but also exist on a

societal level.

Over many years, Public Sector organisations have become the ‘rescuers’ of societal ills, and in

the process of these interactions have implemented more (often overprotective) policy &

regulations and have installed more dependency on the state. This can be compared with an

overprotective parent who, through their actions, paralyses the natural resilience of the child.

We now find ourselves in a ‘chicken-and-egg’ scenario where mutual blame and distrust has

become the norm in these societal interactions. The use of systems built on negative psychology

keeps us all hostage with bureaucratic practices which in turn are strengthened by distrust, blame

and litigation in more regulation. And so the cycle continues ...

Positive Psychology and the Collaborative Economy Today Behavioural Social Scientists are showing a much greater interest in positive psychology

and the significant impact this new perspective could have on breaking learned dependency of the state

and on other broken interactions between individuals, communities and organisations. Many are

concluding that a more trusting and collaborative approach to the challenges faced by the Public Sector

and across the world is needed. Behavioural economists are embracing the need for a collaborative or

sharing economy, where mutuality/interdependence is the key to unlocking resilient communities as

well as survive tough economic times.

In this economic model, human relationships

built on trust are key, as trust helps individuals

to more truly engage with their own needs and

that of the community they live in. It can help

societal culture move from learned dependency

on the state to more resilient, self-sustainable

community models built on mutuality/

interdependence.

Social Renewal A Simple Case Study A few years back, having just moved into a new street, the Queen Jubilee provided the perfect

opportunity to get to know the community around me. I rallied a number of neighbours together

in a working group to plan (but not over-plan) a Street Party where neighbours could contribute

to a fun community get-together. It was a great success.

The benefits of the Street Party can still be felt 2 years on. They include:

- Greeting neighbours by name - Skills Sharing

- Exercising together - Dog-sitting

- Looking out for each other - Signposting to services

- Welcoming new neighbours - Etc

- Friendships

This one-off community activity not only helped restore the trust between neighbours, it has

renewed a community spirit which had been lost over the years. It has also contributed to the

meeting of individual and community outcomes, e.g. improved health, better quality of life, widening

circles of support etc.

Person-Driven Commissioning

If we take away the traditional organisational infrastructure of Public Sector delivery, by starting from a blank sheet of paper and no budget in tow, a different, more ‘idealistic’ model comes into play, that of Person and Community-Driven Commissioning. Idealistic maybe, but what if this is achievable? Some individuals, communities and third sector organisations around the world are already applying this model, encouraged by mobile and digital technologies, though most are doing so ‘off their own back’. Social Renewal and Life Planning as referred to in the model are not only important for people who access Health or Social Care services. They have benefits for the wider community and help to embed a culture of trust and mutuality. Note also how Social Renewal and Engagement activities have a positive affect on co-creation, better quality services and the local Economy.

Person-Driven Outcomes and Solutions While Life Planning remains a choice for each individual, the creation of a supportive infrastructure may encourage more people to explore the possibilities. This could take the format of an interactive Self-Assessment tool which helps individuals reflect on their own outcomes and explore the various ways to address them. This too is not a new idea. In Adult Social Care, person-centred thinking has provided opportunities for people to ‘commission’ their own solutions. When given this ‘freedom’, solutions are often different , more proactive and less costly than the solutions proposed by a qualified professional. Research shows however that professionals working in the Public Sector are not always supportive of these solutions due to risk averse thinking and safeguarding concerns. To date, risk averse thinking by professionals and politicians still interferes with individuals choices and independence (ignoring the rights as set out in the Mental Capacity Act 2005).

Supporting quotes on the impact of a Risk Averse Culture

“Where a person with less power and status might wish to take a risk, and the consequences of that risk would affect more powerful people, it is more likely that

they will be prevented from taking it. This is the problem faced by people supported by services and professionals, where those services and professionals fear various real and

imagined consequences to them of the risk taking of the people they support.”

Neill, Allen, Woodhead, Reid, Irwin & Sanderson, 2008

“‘Total safety’ can only exist in an environment of

‘total control’.”

Nursing Development Unit, Seacroft Hospital

John Waters from In Control on Personalisation and Safeguarding - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PolsUf2W-oE The difference Direct Payments have made to one person - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRl5WRVAye0

Procurement, Co-Creation and Social Value To prove that a whole systems approach is needed, a little note about risk averse thinking and the

tension between co-creation and procurement. Co-creation by its very nature suggests that a solution is

developed locally. What if the solution already exists in Birmingham or Liverpool? Procurement rules

may mean that the co-creation process could end with an accusation of corruption. And this has

happened believe it or not, where a Social Enterprise worked with its Local Council and community to

‘fill a gap’ in services, yet the Council’s Auditors chose to challenge the legality of the interaction.

When any Public Sector organisation works with citizens and small local SMEs to fill service gaps, every

discipline across the Council has to support the idea of co-creation. Many Councils have mitigated this

risk by removing co-creation from their own agenda and transferring it to other sectors, but the

problem remains the same. When funded by the Public Sector, these commissioned agencies are

equally ‘acting outside the law’ to co-create solutions if those solutions already exist elsewhere in the

UK. The fact that only a local service can offer the same level of service, quickly and consistently means

nothing as Procurement rules insist on tendering as it is fear challenge from other providers.

A System-Wide Approach

‘No one individual in the system failed, the environment was highly regulated, yet the system was rotten

to the core’ – John Waters, In Control

While the principles in this paper are fairly straight forward to present, the application of this

requires a system-wide transformation and cultural change which cannot be achieved overnight.

It requires a vision for the whole County, supported by local third sector/social enterprise organisations

and a positive psychology approach to every transformation aspect of the Public Services life cycle.

Setting a more personalised commissioning approach

in train also has significant implications on

how and where the control is held, and will require

very personal changes for some stakeholders. This also

means that any transformation needs to be handled

with great sensitivity, non-judgement and respect

for what has gone before to engage everyone into

the future.

How can we help?

Future Catalyst is an Organisational Development Consultancy, specialising in Organisational Psychology, Design and Culture. We believe that Local Government has an important role in the future, facilitating more integrated working practices across the whole of the Public Sector, other sectors and the Public which will benefit the County’s citizens without contributing to a culture of dependency on the state. This Paper aims to share with you some of our thinking, which we hope will be helpful to you. Future Catalyst is a highly flexible and collaborative Public Sector Adviser. We do not come with ‘off-the-shelf’ solutions, but help facilitate the co-creation of organisational working practices which help deliver improved integrated working across the Public Sector. We offer: -Executive and Political Coaching -Organisational Analysis -Senior Leadership Development -Facilitation of interactive workshops -Multi-Agency Programmes -Organisational Design & Culture Mentorship -Business Partnering If you would welcome to learn more, please visit our website – www.futurecatalyst.net where you can find more free resources and our contact details.