Councils should work with local charities to develop commissioning processes that are more accessible to smaller organisations, the umbrella body for local authorities has urged. 

A new good practice guide published by the Local Government Association, developed based on evidence gathered by the local infrastructure body Navca, aims to offer guidance for council officers and councillors on how they can best work with charities. 

It says that “complex and time-consuming” commissioning processes can be a barrier for local charities that would like to provide public services. 

“Examples include 20 pages of guidance notes on how to apply for £1,000 of funding from a council; a very short time to make an application for funding (two weeks), meaning that other work has to stop for an application to be made; drawn-out decision-making process of several months; delays in confirming previously agreed renewals of contracts, which impacts on staff wellbeing and retention,” it says. 

Further barriers to sustained partnership working can also include a focus on short-term funding and outputs over longer-term agreements and outcomes, or relationships that are framed only in the context of commercial considerations. 

“This can include a perception that procurement teams apply rules over-zealously and in risk-averse ways, potentially seen as inappropriate to the size of contract or bidding organisation, without challenge from commissioners,” it says. 

The guide says working with local infrastructure organisations to design commissioning processes that are more friendly to the voluntary and social enterprise sector could lower these barriers. 

It suggests measures such as longer application windows, minimising the complexity of paperwork and offering clear and accessible information on timescales and decision-making.

It warns that a lack of trust or poor communication between councils and local charities can lead to “unrealistic expectations” on both sides, including that charities only exist to deliver council services. 

The guide says that funding pressures on councils also present challenges for charities delivering council services. 

It says reduced funding across the board for voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise organisations “poses a risk to the sector as a whole in the local area, and as council-funded or delivered services are reduced, VCFSE organisations also see an increasing demand to which they are not resourced to respond”.