Canadian Government Executive - Volume 23 - Issue 07

6 / Canadian Government Executive // October 2017 Dr. Robert P. Taylor Dr. Andrea Migone Workforce From Procurement to the Commissioning It is important to recognize that commissioning is separate and different from more traditional approaches that include procurement, outsourcing and austerity measures. T oday, the challenges facing gov- ernments are increasingly shift- ing away from traditional, sim- ple problems to those that are more complex and interconnected. At the same time, fiscal constraints and a grow- ing demand from citizens for core services seem to have become a constant in gov- ernment operations. Although resources are increasingly limited, citizens still have expectations and assume that govern- ments will work together to address them through new and creative approaches. Responding to these issues has led many jurisdictions to focus greater attention on innovation and exploring new ways to de- sign and deliver public services. Increas- ingly, governments around the world have adopted approaches that have included leveraging the expertise and resources of the private sector through alternative ser- vice delivery approaches. Despite many success stories, many have also found that these new types of arrangements are dif- ficult to manage and have not always led to the intended results such as cost reduc- tion or improved quality of services. More recently, a number of jurisdictions have introduced the concept of “commission- ing” which goes well beyond traditional procurement and outsourcing agendas. According to the Institute of Govern- ment (UK), commissioning refers to the process of assessing the needs of people or users in an area, designing and speci- fying the services to meet those needs, and choosing the delivery mechanism that makes the best use of total available resources. Commissioning focuses on out- comes rather than process or inputs, and features partnerships between govern- ment and service providers rather than arms-length relationships. Commission- ing offers a more strategic and dynamic approach with a clear focus on injecting greater diversity and competition into the public service economy. By creating public service markets, the expertise and resourc- es of the private and not-for-profit sectors can be harnessed and leveraged through new business and delivery models. The approach recognizes and separates cli- ents (purchasers) from service providers to enable public bodies to concentrate on what should be delivered (outcomes fo- cus) rather than how such service should be provided. The intent of a more open and competitive public service market is that incentives are created to drive inno- vation, reduce costs and empower citizens. Competition and choice can be important mechanisms to foster change using limited government intervention. The approach has also enabled the adaptation of tradi- tional tools to ensure that they are more dynamic and responsive to the needs of the new partnership arrangements (e.g., contracts). In a context of continuing fiscal chal- lenges and low economic growth, it has become imperative for governments to unlock the potential of the public service economy (although it cannot be suggest- ed that all public services would benefit from such an approach). In particular, the case can be made for government to con- sider an explicit public service economy approach in areas where competition, of Public Services contestability, and diversity in service de- livery can generate value, improve pro- ductivity, foster innovation, and enhance accountability to the consumers of public services and to taxpayers. Employing a public service economy approach means that government administrations must be willing and prepared to employ new types of approaches with new forms of partner- ship and where traditional support sys- tems are modified (such as procurement, oversight, and risk). It is important to recognize that com- missioning is separate and different from more traditional approaches that include procurement, outsourcing and auster- ity measures. It may be more effective to think about commissioning not as an on/ off switch but as an evolving policy ap- proach that separately recognizes pur- chaser and provider in the service deliv- ery mechanism. We should also appreciate that modern commissioning approaches have evolved from earlier alterative ser- vice delivery approaches. In this evolu- tion we can imagine a progressive (and complex) process of differentiation be-