The government has announced additional support for the volunatry sector to help them develop skills and capabilities to bid for more public services projects, Nick Hurd, Minister for Civil Society said.
In an open letter to the voluntary sector, the minister talked about the "new opportunities potentially worth billions of pounds for charities and social enterprises" as the government has opened up competition to deliver public services.
"By enabling all sectors to compete for contracts on a level playing field citizens and communities will benefit from greater choice and more responsive services," he said. “The £10million Investment and Contract Readiness Fund will create a pipeline of civil society organisations ready to grasp new opportunities. They will break down barriers and build expertise in the sector so that it can become a mainstream option for public service delivery. And as the Big Society Bank capitalises the social investment market finance to grow organisations will becoming increasingly available.”
As well as new opportunities to earn income from public service contracts, civil society organisations will soon have more access to capital investment when the Big Society Bank opens for business, the minister confirmed.
Civil Society organisations have been invited to take part in a listening exercise for all sectors over the summer to help identify where further changes are needed.
Last week we began a pilot with three Departments for a new online service that will make it easier for suppliers to do business with Government – the Government e-Marketplace. It will enable smaller organisations including charities and SMEs not currently in government procurement frameworks to register their organisation for contracts below £100,000. This new system will remove the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) stage of the tender process which has been highlighted as prohibitive to civil society bids. In addition, the Local Government Group has confirmed it will encourage a standardised PQQ at a local level to reduce bureaucratic burdens for bidders.
Today’s open letter follows publication of the Open Public Services White Paper on 11 July, which sets out how the Government will improve public services by putting choice and control in the hands of individuals and neighbourhoods.
The Big Society Bank will shortly announce its first investment. It will continue over coming years to use its £600m capital to stimulate and grow the social investment market providing a new source of finance to the civil society sector enabling organisations to grow and take on more public sector contracts.