The Care Act on co-production in commissioning and market shaping

The statutory guidance to the Care Act makes it clear that:

"Local authorities should pursue the principle that market shaping and commissioning should be shared endeavours, with commissioners working alongside people with care and support needs, carers, family members, care providers, representatives of care workers, relevant voluntary, user and other support organisations and the public to find shared and agreed solutions."

This means that commissioners should work with everyone (including people with care and support needs, their families and carers and with service providers, their staff and informal support networks) to find solutions that work for everyone.

In a similar way, standard 4 of the Commissioning for Better Outcomes Framework (opens new window), which supports the implementation of the Care Act says that:

"Good commissioning starts from an understanding that people using services and their carers and communities are experts in their own lives and are therefore essential partners in the design and development of services. Good commissioning creates meaningful opportunities for leadership and engagement of people, including carers and the wider community, in decisions that impact on the use of resources and shape of services locally". ^[32]

^[32] The University of Birmingham. (2014) Commissioning for Better Outcomes: A Route Map. (opens new window) p.14.