Corporate report

DCMS action plan to engage the voluntary, community and social enterprise sectors in its supply chain

Published 30 March 2023

1. Forewords

VCSE Crown Representative statement

In my role as the Crown Representative for the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector (VCSE), I act as an intermediary between government and the charity and social enterprise sectors to champion the Public Services (Social Value) Act and improvements in commissioning and procurement practices. As part of this, I am very keen to work with all government departments to share best practice and to promote the benefits of working with VCSE organisations.

Having worked closely with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), I am looking forward to supporting DCMS making progress with VCSEs and seeing it increase the amount of business they partner with VCSEs on. This action plan builds on previous achievements and will help DCMS to deliver on their ambitious plans for VCSE engagement.

I very much look forward to continuing working with my departmental colleagues to help support them in achieving their targets.

Claire Dove CBE
VCSE Crown Representative, Cabinet Office

DCMS Commercial Director statement

As joint owner of the social value policy within government, DCMS recognises the 250,000 VCSEs across the UK are in a unique position to deliver social value in public procurement; these organisations are embedded in communities and have expert local knowledge that can be drawn on to create better and more compassionate public services.

As the department’s VCSE champion and Commercial Director I am proud to publish one of the first VCSE Action Plans in government. We understand the VCSE sector faces distinct challenges when bidding for contracts and I am committed to developing policies and practices that increase their participation.

The actions contained in this plan seek to tackle barriers faced by VCSEs, improve sector engagement and make our procurement and subcontracting opportunities easier to navigate for VCSEs. We will regularly review our progress against the plan and welcome continued feedback.

This action plan is an important first step in creating a foundation of best practice across government, and we look forward to continuing this collaborative approach to create stronger and more diverse supply chains.

Marc Bryant
DCMS Commercial Director

2. Introduction

Voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations (VCSEs) play a vital role in the delivery of public services. Many VCSEs have strong links to, and knowledge of, the local communities they serve and where they are trusted. Their knowledge and connection to local areas ideally place them to help create compassionate, responsive and efficient public services.

Central government has committed to diversifying its supply chains alongside ensuring contracts are awarded on the basis of not only price, but also the supplier’s social impact. This not only provides VCSE organisations with the much deserved recognition for their positive contribution to society, but also ensures the additional social benefits that can be achieved in the delivery of contracts are taken into account. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is committed to improving its awareness of VCSEs in its sectors and the markets it purchases from, with the aim of increasing VCSE appetite to participate in procurement bids and reduce barriers to participation.

DCMS’ core mission is to drive growth, enrich lives and promote Britain to the world. Contributing to this mission is the department’s ownership of the VCSE and social value policy area and the promotion of these throughout government. The Department jointly leads with Cabinet Office on social value policy, with a particular focus on helping the VCSE sector benefit.

This is among the first iterations of a VCSE action plan within government. The purpose and ambition of this plan is to create a foundation of best practice to be adopted and improved across government allowing for proportionate and achievable participation targets to be set in the future.

This action plan complements the plan to engage small and medium-sized enterprises in its supply chain and is expected to be read in conjunction. This is a one-year action plan to be reviewed and updated when required.

3. VCSEs in public procurement

VCSE definition

The voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector is a broad spectrum of organisations which comprise what is commonly referred to as ‘civil society’.

PPN 11/20 defines VCSEs as:

any organisation (incorporated or not) working with a social purpose. This ranges from small community-based groups/schemes, through to larger registered charities and social enterprises, public service mutuals and cooperatives that operate locally, regionally and nationally. This term is often interchangeable with the terms ‘third sector’ or ‘civil society’ organisations.

Background

Despite the value add of VCSEs, they are underrepresented in public service procurement.

An independent study commissioned by DCMS found there are:

An independent study commissioned by DCMS found there are an estimated 250,000 VCSEs active in the UK.

Of these, it’s estimated that between 9,200 and 12,500 VCSEs engage in government contracting each year
(between 3% - 5% of active VCSEs).

VCSEs operate in a variety of sectors and are well known to operate in ‘people-services’. VCSE participation in public procurement is most prominent in the below eight markets, with health and social care by far the largest market for VCSEs:^{[footnote 1]}

• health and social care
• disability
• employability
• offender rehabilitation
• legal and advocacy
• domestic violence
• sexual abuse
• homelessness
• youth services

The research report found clear evidence of specialisms offered by VCSEs being recognised in the procurement of services relating to disability, employability, and vulnerable adults.

Research provided crucial evidence-based insight into the supply and demand barriers to participation and growth potential for VCSEs.

Supply side barriers (VCSE suppliers experience)	Demand side barriers (commissioners experience)
VCSEs have varied capacity both to bid and deliver contracts	Commissioner understanding of the VCSE sector is varied
Some VCSEs are hesitant to participate with procurement, citing contract flexibility / increased marketisation / level of risk / resource required / previous experiences	Contract design and management can limit the sector’s ability to engage with procurement / to effectively deliver their services / to deliver contracts within budget
There are a number of concerns around lack of accountability, payment, and transparency within the supply chain	Data sharing challenges often mean it is hard for commissioners to identify needs within a region / the sector’s capability to address these needs
Challenging digital landscape which impacts ability to access portals, to find opportunities, and to keep up with increasingly digitised services	Existing partnerships with the sector are varied and few commissioners have a comprehensive strategy in place to collaborate with the sector

DCMS is focused on addressing the following barriers to participation:

• definition and understanding of the sector
• supply chain issues
• awareness of opportunities
• contracts marked as suitable for VCSEs
• contract design

4. Procurement at DCMS

DCMS manages a large breadth of government policy and therefore requires its commercial function to procure a wide portfolio of services. As a result, DCMS has a diverse supply chain which includes a range of markets and suppliers. As a core department, we predominantly procure professional services such as research, consultancy and legal services. Our reach further increases with the inclusion of our arms-length bodies (ALBs) and major programmes who regularly engage with markets such as facilities management, construction and catering.

DCMS is committed to a variety of initiatives such as social value, SME engagement, and tackling modern slavery. Through these initiatives we will continuously work to embed improving access for VCSEs in DCMS supply chains.

In compliance with the Public Contract Regulations 2015, DCMS takes an agile approach to procurement ensuring we are able to access quality goods and services whilst achieving value for money. Our most common routes to market are through Crown Commercial Services frameworks and open competitions. We recognise the value and impact that VCSE and SME organisations bring, and therefore provide great emphasis on maximising their opportunities to bid for our contracts. We invest in developing markets providing benefits to the department and our supply chain.

5. VCSE action plan

DCMS is committed to becoming a centre of excellence for VCSEs leading by example across government. This section outlines the progress made to date and future commitments.

DCMS accountability and governance

DCMS has appointed a departmental VCSE champion to drive the VCSE agenda within the DCMS family (the department and its ALBs) and to drive the commitments within this action plan.

The VCSE champion will work closely with the Cabinet Office and other government departments through the cross-government VCSE commissioning taskforce, to share best practice, lessons learned and review progress. DCMS will appoint VCSE leads within the DCMS family to promote the VCSE agenda at a more granular level to increase awareness and accountability, and support improvements to procurement processes.

DCMS has established a collaborative working group between the Commercial Directorate and the Social Value team within the DCMS civil society and youth (CSY) directorate. The working group will support the VCSE champion in their duties, ensure the action plan deliverables are met, manage risks and support the VCSE leads. The outputs of the working group will be regularly shared with the VCSE Crown Representative and the minister.

Action plan

To address barriers to participation and develop a foundation of ‘best practice’, in tandem with our SME action plan, DCMS has developed objectives to support the VCSE agenda. Our objectives are as follows:

1. Education and awareness: Through research and engagement we aim to get a better understanding of the VCSE sector and the barriers they face, improving awareness of VCSEs across the DCMS family.

2. Transparency and engagement: Improve transparency of opportunities for VCSEs and the way in which the DCMS family engages with the sector.

3. Accessibility: To improve the visibility and accessibility of DCMS opportunities for VCSEs.

4. Confidence: Provide VCSEs with the confidence to tender for DCMS family contracts by ensuring that the bidding process is applicable to VCSEs.

5. Data: To improve data accessibility and the accuracy of current and future data held on VCSEs within DCMS supply chains.

Education and awareness

Over the next six months, DCMS will continue to understand the markets in which VCSEs are most prominent. The department will undertake further research and scoping to understand VCSE representation in the markets the DCMS family procure from and their appetite to bid for our opportunities. DCMS will take a two stage approach in developing its understanding of the VCSE sector by tackling the core department followed by its ALBs. An improved understanding of the VCSE sector will allow for better communication within the sector and targeting of VCSEs.

In conjunction with the appointments of VCSE leads, DCMS will develop internal guidance and awareness of the VCSE sector and the added value they can provide to the department.

Transparency and engagement

DCMS intends to further improve transparency of opportunities for VCSEs.

We will establish feedback channels for VCSEs to better understand the barriers they face and ways in which, as a department, we can provide support. We will utilise surveys and supplier workshops to obtain feedback directly from our supply chain to understand their experience of contracting with DCMS. To attract and support VCSEs, we will host “meet the buyer” events providing further information on DCMS, our pipeline and our procurement processes. DCMS will continue to engage with the VCSE sector through its attendance at VCSE panels. This engagement will allow for continued two-way feedback and improvements as we learn directly from VCSEs whilst providing further education and training about the department and how we operate.

DCMS’ pipeline is available to view online. Our pipeline provides a look ahead of DCMS procurement activity and opportunities for our suppliers. Publication of our pipeline will allow all organisations easy insight into upcoming opportunities as a prime or sub-contractor. Our pipeline includes details of the expected routes to market and which opportunities are suitable for VCSEs. In conjunction, the department commits to ensuring our policies promote the use of Contracts Finder for VCSE subcontracting opportunities, and allow for improved audit of supply base compliance with Procurement Policy Note 01/18 - Supply Chain Visibility.

Accessibility

Our internal procurement processes stipulate that all of our opportunities should be tagged as suitable for VCSEs unless adequate justification can be provided and approved. DCMS commits to continually review its procurement processes to improve accessibility with the removal of unnecessary red tape, where possible.

DCMS intends to make further use of the Procurement Policy Note 11/20 - Reserving Below Threshold Procurements. This provides the rights for contracting authorities to reserve procurement opportunities for SMEs and VCSEs, and to also reserve based on their geographic location. This means being able to run a competition and specify that only SMEs and VCSEs can bid, and can be used to ensure VCSE local knowledge is successfully leveraged. As per the PPN guidance, DCMS applies careful consideration when using this option, considering this on a case-by-case basis.

DCMS will provide greater consideration of VCSE suitability when developing requirements and considering routes to market. Our Commercial Directorate works closely with the department to understand requirements and advise on the most appropriate delivery model. Where appropriate and where possible, we will disaggregate requirements to ensure greater accessibility and suitability for VCSEs.

DCMS mandates the use of the social value model for all procurements over £100,000 (excluding VAT). This will support supplier diversity across the supply base i.e. creating a vibrant, diverse, mixed market with varied sizes and types of supplier including VCSEs, SMEs and mutuals.

Confidence

We will develop tools and guidance to support VCSEs to create competitive tender responses and provide a better understanding of the goods and services that the DCMS family purchase.

We are confident that our guidance accompanied with our close engagement with the sector will foster confidence amongst VCSEs to participate in future procurements. Once developed, DCMS will share the tools and guidance across other government departments. This will be particularly advantageous for departments that procure in the same markets that the VCSE sector participates in as aforementioned.

Data

DCMS has improved its systems and processes to capture VCSE status at the point of contract award. We aim to make further developments to capture the total number of VCSEs that bid for our contracts, data held at subcontracting level and VCSE suppliers within our ALBs. Quality data will provide improvements in our ability to engage with the VCSE sector as we develop a better understanding of VCSEs in our existing supply chains and those competing for contracts. DCMS aims to use this data to set proportionate and meaningful VCSE participation targets.

Summary

The VCSE agenda continues to be a priority for DCMS, our action plan objectives will drive the agenda forward and support our aim in creating a foundation of best practice for other government departments to follow.

We will proactively seek and act on feedback from the VCSE sector to continuously improve our understanding of VCSEs and how we can better support the sector going forward.

This action plan is a one year plan, which we will review and update as appropriate based on the commitments outlined above.

Appendix A: Useful links

Guidance documents

• VCSEs: A guide to working with government: VCSE Crown Representative Claire Dove CBE has commissioned a guidance document for VCSEs looking to work with central and local governments.
• Social value model (PPN 06/20): PPN06/20 sets out how to take account of social value in the award of central government contracts by using the social value model.
• Contracts Finder: Register with Contracts Finder to keep updated on new and upcoming contracts worth over £10,000 with the government and its agencies.
• Find a Tender: Utilise Find a Tender to keep updated on new and upcoming upcoming contracts worth over £118,000 with the government and its agencies.
• Public procurement review service: If you have a concern you’d like to raise about the procurement process or a problem with payment on a public contract you can let us know via the public procurement review service, and they will investigate for you.
• Government’s prompt payment policy: Find out more about the measures introduced by the government to tackle late and unfair payment practices in the public sector.

Social media

• Newsletter: Sign up for the monthly for info newsletter to keep up to date with policy announcements and opportunities through the DCMS Civil Society and Youth Directorate.

• Twitter: Follow the VCSE Crown Representative, Claire Dove CBE, who acts as an intermediary between the government and the voluntary, community and social enterprise sectors to champion the Social Value Act and an improvement in commissioning practices @VCSECrownRep

1. Trussell Trust Research for DCMS, UK Public Procurement through VCSEs 2016-2020, 2021 ↩