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The Public Service Transformation Academy will run the Commissioning Academy, a development programme for senior public sector leaders.

The social enterprise the Public Service Transformation Academy has been awarded a concession contract to run the Cabinet Office Commissioning Academy, a leadership programme for public sector commissioners.

The Commissioning Academy aims to help those who work on defining policy, shaping public service provision or allocating resources for services to citizens, to get the best outcome.

The Commissioning Academy was originally launched in 2012 by former Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude. Over 1,100 senior leaders in central and local government and across public services have already attended the development programmes run by the Academy.

Programmes take place over 3 to 6 days. They involve some of the country’s leading experts as speakers to stimulate debates and help participants develop the skills and confidence to address the challenge of public service transformation.

The next programme starts on 9 June with tailored regional programmes available from 1 May 2016.

John Manzoni, Chief Executive of the Civil Service said yesterday:

The Commissioning Academy was designed to help commissioners transform public services and deliver better outcomes in a tighter financial environment.

With the new concession launched today and taking over the resources built up by the Public Service Transformation Network, the Academy will continue to promote and deliver public service transformation policy and enable lives to be improved across the country.

Rob Wilson, Minister for Civil Society said:

This new phase of the Academy will mean commissioners can continue to review relevant challenges and opportunities, including closer working with service users and harnessing social action, social value and a diverse marketplace including small and medium enterprises, charities and social enterprises, for the benefit of citizens.

The Public Service Transformation Academy will operate on a not-for-profit basis and I am confident that this innovative way of delivering training will continue to keep the Commissioning Academy at the cutting edge of policy and practice.

Commenting on the announcement Benjamin Taylor, Managing Partner of RedQuadrant and Chief Executive of the Public Service Transformation Academy said:

We believe in helping public services to help themselves, and the Commissioning Academy has been one of the most effective ways to spread new thinking to help meet citizen needs in challenging financial circumstances.

We hope to make the new Public Service Transformation Academy the ‘go-to’ place for real, practical capacity-building for transformation.

Peter Unwin, Chief Executive of The Whitehall & Industry Group (WIG) added:

Public services are increasingly being delivered through commissioning agreements involving the public, private and voluntary sectors.

The more effectively that commissioning is done, the better the outcomes will be for communities across the country. WIG is delighted to be involved in this initiative to try to make that happen. It fits perfectly with our charitable purpose of increasing understanding and learning between the sectors.

Further information

The Public Service Transformation Academy is led by Red Quadrant and WIG with other partners including: OPM, NCVO, Browne Jacobson LLP, the E3M Bold Commissioners Club, Numbers for Good, TSIP, the Alliance for Useful Evidence, Local Gov Digital, Collaborate, and members of the Public Service Transformation Network.