Just three months after the Scottish independence referendum and with public sector cuts likely to arise, Collaborate have launched a new report calling for greater collaboration and stronger relationships between third sector care and support providers and commissioning authorities in Scotland.

The report: ‘From Providers to Partners: What Will it Take?’, co-written by Dr Henry Kippen and Rory Swinson Reid, was developed in partnership with the Coalition of Care and Support Providers in Scotland (CCPS).

This timely piece of research was conducted in consultation with senior figures across the Scottish care and support sector and central and local government.

According to the report, creating a shift in the way public services are organised will require a change in culture and behaviour, as well as structural change and intelligent design. Social change at scale in Scotland can only take place with real collaboration across sectors and when there is a shared stake in the process and outcomes of reform.

The report acknowledges that while there have been important reforms including Self-directed Support and the integration of health and social care, there is a gap between policy and practice particularly in relation to the commissioning of care services.

It argues that real collaboration is needed in order to change the ‘buyer-supplier’ dynamic that often characterises the relationship between commissioning teams and support providers. This purchaser-provider divide has resulted in a procurement process that inhibits better outcomes.

The report calls for a more robust ‘public social partnership’ and the improvement of cross-sector dialogue. It is with alternative approaches to procuring services that collaboration will be strengthened in the delivery of public services.

The research was presented at CCPS’s annual conference in November. CGF UK welcomes the report and hopes that its findings and recommendations may be found useful in the UK at large.

Read the full version of the report here.

Visit Collaborate’s website at www.collaboratei.com.