Leeds has a big vision for the future - to be the Best City in the UK in 2030. Leeds, through the Leeds Initiative, has set out to say what that means by this, and to be clear about what steps will be taken along the way in pursuit of that. You can find a lot more by going to: www.leedsbestcity.org.uk

This is important - it sets the context for what services Leeds needs to have in place in the coming years in relation to being that Best City. There are five subsidiary Boards under the main The Leeds Initiative Board - one for each of these areas:

• Children's Trust Board;
• Health and Well-Being Board;
• Safer and Stronger Communities Board;
• Sustainable Economy and Culture Board; and
• Housing and Regeneration Board.

The Leeds Initiative Boards bring together key partners to agree the broad vision and overarching priorities for Leeds. Service delivery departments like Adult Social Care, Children's Services, and Environment and Neighbourhoods will be approaching their responsibilities with these priorities in mind.

Many of the services managed by these departments are areas of interest for the Third Sector and it is important that as a sector we understand what the commissioners' priorities are!

• Stage 1: Joint Needs Assessment and Planning

A Joint Needs Strategic Assessment (JSNA) is undertaken by the Council and the NHS. A JSNA draws together data across all aspects of the health and well-being of the population as well as other demographic information. Data on the target population is looked at alongside feedback from providers and service users who participated in any existing service delivery. This information is used to better understand and review the level and nature of the need in the target population. Using this data Commissioners start to plan the delivery of services by drafting service specifications.

Some service areas will publish a prospectus or similar document in which they set down what their priorities will be in the coming year. For example, the Children's Services Prospectus is where The Children's Trust Board describes how commissioning will improve what it is like for children and young people to grow up in Leeds. It indicates the investment priorities and actions which will be taken to support and improve current services. The prospectus demonstrates how resources will be targeted collectively to the priorities in the Children and Young People's Plan and describes how Results Based Commissioning is being used in Leeds to support improvement and change.

• Stage 2: Delivery Planning

At Leeds City Council (LCC) Commissioners are internal groupings of officers within services departments. They may invite representatives, e.g. from relevant Thid Sector networks and forums, to join them in the specification and detailed planning stage.  In many cases the NHS will join the Commissioning Body where there is a clear overlap of interest - just as a relevant council department may be asked to join the NHS when the NHS is leading the commissioning process.

In most instances there is a level of dialogue that enables the Third Sector to have an input. This is particularly the case with Environment and Neighbourhoods at Leeds Council (which manages Supporting People Funds). Here, there is a very full engagement and open exchange of views between interested Third Sector providers and Commissioners. Once a service requirement has been specified - set out in detail - the process moves on to Procurement.

• Stage 3: Procurement

When Commissioners are ready to put a service out to tender, the Procurement Unit of the Council becomes involved. This unit is based at the Civic Hall and offers a service across all departments.

Leeds is part of SCMS - Supplier and Contractor Management System. The SCMS website aims to give suppliers, contractors, consultants, and service providers the information they need to be able to trade more easily with public sector bodies in the region. In addition to providing guidance and advice relating to the procurement process, it also gives direct access to a wide variety of procurement opportunities across the region.

The LCC Procurement Unit will ensure that the tender (the contract on offer) complies with all relevant laws and regulations. It will ensure that minimum standards of compliance are achieved by all bidders before their bid is accepted as being suitable for consideration. One way it does this is by asking organisations to complete a Pre Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ).

• What is a PQQ?

Pre-Qualification Questionnaires (PQQs) are used as part of the formal procurement selection process. They act as a written reassurance to Commissioners that an applicant can in fact provide the advertised service adequately. In Leeds the PQQ has two parts:

Part 1 asks you how you will deliver the service that you are bidding for - it is focused on the work in question.

Part 2 is all about your organisation. It contains a series of questions covering quality assurance, information and communication systems, administrative capability, health and safety compliance, equal opportunities, financial status and referees.

Formal documents to support these questions can also be requested, such as company accounts, liability insurance documentation and supporting policies. If you want to engage in the procurement process, then you need to be ready and able to meet all of these requirements. Completing a PQQ is a good discipline. It can act as a kind of check on whether you really are ready and sufficiently well set up to compete for public sector contracts.

Sample PPQs are provided on the Commissioning Toolkit page.

• Stage 4: Performance Management

Once a contract is awarded and a service is being delivered monitoring and impact assessment begins. Providers need to ensure that useful data on activities is collected. This is used to ensure that the service is meeting targets. A real test of a service is: is it having a positive impact and delivering the desired results. Leeds City Council is making increased use of Outcome Based Accountability (OBA) for nearly all of its activities. Providers working with Children's Services will already be well aware of this and other providers will need to become more familiar with this approach. When a service delivery contract comes to an end the cycle starts again.

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