Increasingly, the voluntary and community sector is being encouraged to bid for contracts to deliver public services. If you are new to this way of working, we recommend the publication Pathways through the maze - a guide to procurement law, commissioned by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) and the National Association for Voluntary and Community Action (NAVCA)

Download it FREE now!

Download Public Sector Commissioning for Beginners, a workshop presentation from our 3 December 2009 Funding Conference.

Westminster City Council uses a web-based tool to advertise its contracts. Visit CompeteFor to find out more about their contracts and others.

Click here to read Westminster City Council's Expressions of Interest Adverts

Register with Funding Central, free of charge, to receive updates on contacts that are being advertised.

The basics:

Commissioning involves the assessment of people's needs in a specific geographical area (or borough), the design of services and the agreement of a contract with a third party to secure the delivery of these services. Service users, communities and voluntary and community organisations often have the knowledge, skills and ability to design and run good quality services.

Procurement is the process of buying services. Like a job application, service contracts are advertised and applications are invited. Bids from potential service providers will then be scrutinized and evaluated.

Voluntary Action Westminster hosts the work of the Westminster Community Network and Westminster LINk which are local networks that can help you meet other groups with similar concerns, and can put you in a position to make your voice heard and influence policy. Together with its Organisational Development Team, VAW can help you to develop your organisation's skills to compete for contracts.