Commissioning and managing services

"Skills to manage services or commission them from third parties, managing on outcomes (not volumes or processes) and potentially on a risk/reward basis"

The Council of the Future is likely to focus more on being a commissioner and manager of services, and less on being the direct provider of all services. Already, many councils have outsourced, or commissioned services relating to their internal processes - ICT, HR, Finance, Legal Services, and central administration - and a few have gone further to outsource some of their key services - education, building control, environmental services and others.

As more services are outsourced, or sourced differently, the skills of the council need to change - to focus more on commissioing and procuring services, managing quality, managing service contracts, and monitronig achievement against outcomes.