The Government recognises the significant role already played by third sector organisations in public services and is keen for this to grow. An action plan drawn up by the Cabinet Office in 2006 set out reforms to increase third sector involvement in public services.

Further policy papers have repeatedly highlighted the desirability of a greater third sector role. This will mean more services will be tendered. The need for third sector organisations to engage effectively in competitive tendering will only increase.

The briefing summarises the different kink of tendering processes and explains how best to manage each.

This briefing shows how to put outcomes and impact at the heart of tendering and commissioning for public services. By doing this, both third sector service providers and commissioners can meet the needs of people and communities more effectively. Service providers: if you follow the steps in Part I, you will have done a great deal of the work towards a complete process of Social Accounting, recording the outcomes and wider impact of your work. Commissioners: if you follow the steps in Part II, you will have moved a long way towards commissioning for outcomes and impact.

The effectiveness of third sector organisations in winning contracts for
services, developing partnerships, or engaging agencies, can be enhanced by strengthening the negotiation skills of people who work for them.

Many third sector organisations find themselves in difficult negotiating positions. Some negotiating partners, such as local authorities or government departments, seem to hold all the negotiating power, and leave little room for discussion. Yet a few simple rules, applied to every negotiation, can dramatically improve the results you achieve. This briefing will help you to take a structured and methodical approach to negotiation, enable you to secure better outcomes for your organisation and those it serves.

This briefing will be an excellent practical guide for those who are new to negotiating, as well as a good refresher for the more experienced negotiator. The principles outlined will be helpful for negotiating with many different stakeholders in different situations and they are not set out to be prescriptive for any particular negotiating scenario.

There is a common misconception that charities and other third sector
organisations are exempt from VAT because they do not have to pay corporation tax on profits from their charitable activities. If commercial businesses work together to deliver a contract for a third party, they are obliged to charge each other VAT on the services and goods they provide and sell to each other. Third sector organisations that are not registered charities must pay tax as commercial businesses do.

Although charities enjoy some specific exemptions from charging and paying VAT, in general they must charge and pay VAT just like commercial businesses. So if two charities work together they too are caught by the same VAT rules as businesses.

This briefing explains the most important rules governing VAT on partnerships. It then explains how to make sure that your partnership operates within those rules.

The final report encapsulates learning from the regional seminars, and makes recommendations for further improvements, with a focus on capacity-building schemes that could be taken forward by Capacitybuilders, hubs, or other national consortia.