Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy



Commissioning Joint Committee

CJC Publications

For further details on the publications listed below or to purchase online, please click on the title or go to the CIPFA Shop.

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PUBBV034HThe Commissioning Joint Committee Guide to Open Public Services

This guide is directed to the decision-makers and practitioners who will be responsible for major changes in the commissioning of services if the proposals in the White Paper go ahead. Its main purpose is to make an early assessment of how much authorities may in practice be able to do to effect real change; and of the other initiatives which will have to accept lower priority if higher priority is given to open public services. These considerations differ widely from proposal to proposal.

For further details and to order your copies please visit the CIPFA Shop.

PUBBV032CRe-evaluating Competition and Contracting – A Commissioning Joint Committee Study

The CJC has completed a report on its study of these subjects, both of which are relied on to achieve economies and efficiency, while at the same time moving more public sector work to the third sector and the private sector, and achieving greater economies of scale and the movement of more decision making to the front line.

The CJC conducted a joint survey with the Association of Public Sector Excellence (APSE) to test the views of practitioners with knowledge of the subject, and this report draws on the results which are supported by the CJC’s feeling that it is high time for some conventional wisdom to be challenged, and for yet more to be done to address some unintended consequences of otherwise good and necessary changes.

PUBBV032CStanding Guide to the Commissioning of Local Authority Work and Services (2010)

The Commissioning Joint Committee has released the latest version of its comprehensive guide.

What’s new in the latest edition (December 2010)
Edition 8 provides as far as possible for new court decisions and new legislation, in particular the Regulations for transposing the Remedies Directive into UK law and for amending the Procurement Directives. It also provides for other material changes such as International Financial Reporting Standards and the proposed change from RPI to CPI in the basis for uprating pensions.

It includes completely revised and updated parts covering:

For further details and to order your copies please visit the CIPFA Shop.

Publication coverA Commissioning Joint Committee Study of Direct Payments and Personal Budgets for Community Care
The CJC has completed their study of the personalisation of community care, of which direct payments and personal budgets are the most demanding and fast-developing elements. The guide also summarises the differences between the legal infrastructures built up by different government departments, and outlines the main provisions of the statutes. Click here for more information and to purchase your copies.

BV027The Commissioning Joint Committee Guide to Environmental Sustainability (2009)

The Commissioning Joint Committee (CJC) has completed its guide to this complex and hugely important subject. It addresses all the main aspects of sustainability as they affect public bodies, including:

  • Further details about the guide can be found on the CIPFA shop.

    The CJC Guide to Choosing Partnership VehiclesThe CJC Guide to Choosing Partnership Vehicles (Fully Revised Second Edition 2008)

    The CJC has just completed a comprehensive update of its best-selling and plain-speaking guide to this contentious subject. Besides the many types of partnership vehicles which local authorities may set up or join, it now also covers some of the main problem areas in partnership working, especially where the partners come from different sectors with different agendas, powers and duties. It is aimed at both corporate decision-makers and service practitioners.

    A full table of contents for the guide can be found here: Word [137KB] PDF [39KB]

    Service Sharing and Economies of ScaleThe CJC Guide to Service Sharing and Economies of Scale (2007)

    The Commissioning Joint Committee has completed a detailed and searching guide to these closely related subjects.

    It accepts that great economies have already been made, that more are available, and that advances in technology are increasing the scope for them further still.

    BV021The CJC Guide to Buying from the Third Sector (2006)

    There is now intense pressure on local authorities to make much greater use of the third sector, both by giving financial support to third sector bodies to carry out work which authorities would otherwise have to do themselves, and by buying services from them. Greater use of the third sector, by every available means, figured strongly in the Labour Party election manifesto, and is clearly one of this government's ambitions.

    The CJC has therefore completed a hard-hitting Guide to buying from the third sector. The Guide does not specifically address supporting, but it does explore the legal and practical differences between these two.

    Housing StocksThe CJC Guide to the Future of Local Authority Housing Stocks in England - The Options Available (2005)

    Whether houses are fit to live in matters even more than who own them. But how can they all be made fit? And how can this be paid for? The Commissioning Joint Committee has published this astringent up-to-date plain English guide for decision-makers and practitioners. Click here to download a full table of contents.

    Social CareThe CJC Guide to the Commissioning of Social Care and the Requirement for Joint Commissioning (2003)

    The CJC, the Association of Directors of Social Services (in England & Wales) and the Association of Directors of Work (in Scotland) have completed a joint guide to what they believe are the most critical aspects of commissioning social work. The Guide was drafted by the CJC's social care committee, to which both Associations appointed leading members with wide commissioning experience.

    Education PartnershipsThe CJC/ConfEd Guide to Education Partnerships and Contracting Out (2002)

    Prepared by the CJC's education committee with the help of leading educationalists from ConfEd, this Guide spells out in plain English the key factors that prudent local education authorities (LEAs) need to keep firmly in mind if for any reason they are committed to, or are considering, any change of service provider.

    Competitiveness and CompetitionCompetitiveness and Competition: An Occasional Paper (2001)

    An Occasional Paper by the CJC designed to assist your decision making process by identifying

    • why work may need to be kept in house
    • warning signs that work should be contracted out
    • for all other work, what factors need to drive the decisions to make-or-buy.
    PFI: Getting it StraightPFI: Getting it Straight - An Occasional Paper by the Competitiveness Joint Committee (CJC) (2000)
    • What is it?
    • Why have successive governments encouraged it so forcefully?
    • How do PFI contracts differ from all other types of contracts?
    • Are these different features good procurement practice in their own right?
    • If they are, why have they been used so little for other types of contract?
    • What changes to the PFI would encourage more imitiation?
    Making the Most of the MarketMaking the Most of the Market: An Occasional Paper by the Competitiveness Joint Committee (CJC) (2000)

    An Occasional Paper by the CJC. This new guide gives practical consideration to the following thorny questions:

    • Is there any market at all?
    • Is it fit to use?
    • Are clients fit to use it?
    • If one doesn't exist, can it be created?