Policy

A useful policy timeline that focuses on policy that affects public service spin outs.This information is geared towards those who are looking to spin-out out of the public sector to create an independent organisation with an embedded social value ethos.

Spin-outs before 2005 There are some examples of successful spin-outs that have now been operating for decades. GLL is a flourishing spin-out that runs over 100 leisure facilities across London having spun out of Greenwich Council in 1993. There was no over-arching national policy framework for these early spin-outs.
Pathfinders In 2005, the Labour government developed a strategy to change the way that health care was delivered in England. The initial driver of this strategy came from the 2005 Department of Health papers Creating a patient-led NHS: Delivering the NHS improvement plan and Commissioning a patient-led NHS.The subsequent 2006 White Paper Our health, our care, our say: A new direction for community services outlined the potential for spin-out organisations to deliver healthcare services. This included the provision of more integrated public services by a variety of organisations, including social enterprises and employee-led mutuals. The Department of Health’s Social Enterprise Pathfinder Programme came out of this paper in late 2006 as a result of this new initiative: a programme that looked to support and encourage the development of new social enterprises to deliver health services.
The Right to Request Programme In 2008, this reform strategy manifested itself in the Right to Request Programme, an initiative introduced in Lord Darzi’s High quality care for all: NHS next stage final review, a report designed to provide a ten-year vision for the development of the NHS. The right to request programme gave PCT staff the opportunity to innovate and develop their own organisations to deliver healthcare services. Under this scheme, PCTs were obliged to consider and support spin-out requests subject to board approval of the business case. These services would then be contracted out from the NHS with a maximum three-year contract and delivered by the spun-out organisation, remaining free at point of use for the public.These PCT spin-outs formed the first wave of public sector mutuals supported by government policy. To date, 61 right to request applications are underway or completed; the scheme is now closed for applications and has since been replaced by the Right to Provide Programme.
Building the Big Society The Coalition government has continued to support the promotion of employee-led public sector spin-outs in public services through its Big Society initiative. Introduced in May 2010 by the Cabinet Office, the agenda has pushed forward the idea of more community-led services across the country and greater transparency in the public sector; with new employee-led public services being a core tenet of their decentralisation policy drive. As a result, since 2010 the drive to encourage and support public sector spin-outs has been lead by the Cabinet Office under the Big Society banner.
The Right to Provide Programme The right to request has been succeeded by the Right to Provide Programme as announced by the Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude, in November 2010. This programme allows for a greater scope of public sector spin-outs to emerge; it is not confined to PCT staff like the Right to Request Programme, but also applies to staff working in NHS trusts, mental health trusts, local authority social services or a special health authority.The 2011 Department of Health guide Making quality your business: A guide to the right to provide explains this strategy further. At present; the Right to Provide Programme is the only way that public sector workers can attempt to spin out of the public sector to deliver their own independent and socially valuable services. However, legislation in the new  Localism Act extends this opportunity to local communities.
The Community Right to Challenge The “Community Right to Challenge” is put forward in the Localism Act, which became law in November 2011. The Act is designed to transfer power from central government back into the hands of local government, communities and individuals.The “Community Right to Challenge” requires that a relevant local authority considers an expression of interest submitted by a voluntary or community body, charity, parish council or employees of the authority in relation to providing (or assisting in providing) a public service. While there is no guarantee that those challenging current services will actually win a contract, due to the requirement to fulfil a procurement exercise, it does give the community and potential service providers a chance to have a greater say in how their services are run.
The Open Public Services White Paper Introduced in July 2011 the Open Public Services White Paper presents a framework for reforming public services, placing emphasis on innovation and community engagement with how public services operate in local areas. While not a radical reinvention of public services, it does focus on the importance of achieving outcomes and the need of a broader conception of value when referring to commissioning services.
Public Services (Social Value) Act Introduced to Parliament in June 2010, the Public Services (Social Value) Bill initially aimed to strengthen the social enterprise business sector and make the concept of social value more relevant and important in the placement and provision of public services.  However, since amendments to the Bill were passed in the House of Commons under the recommendation of Nick Hurd to remove all references to social enterprise in October 2011, this Bill now purely focuses of the importance of social value in new public service contracts during the pre-procurement stage. This at least is a step in the right direction as it encourages local authorities to support and recognise the value of new models of sustainable public services that aim to maximise social value. The Act became law on the 8th March 2012. From 31st January 2013 the Act is ‘live’ and commissioners and procurers must adhere to it.