Achieving better outcomes for better lives

Improving life chances for children and young people in local communities in England is at the heart of the work that the Commissioning Support Programme (CSP) undertakes.

Our success, since being set up in November 2008, lies in our ability to be a powerful agent of change through a unique commissioning approach.  

This approach is focused around brokering local relationships and partnerships that can ensure an effective range of services, delivered how and where families want them and in a way that makes the best use of resources and expertise.   

Our work is also important because it goes deep into the community to offer support to the Big Society agenda by working locally to make a difference locally. 

And, as more public organisations face significantly reduced budgets the value of our work becomes ever more critical – this is because we work to ensure that families have access to cost-effective services through commissioning.

By looking at the totality of the problem, we can create greater efficiencies and deliver better outcomes for children, young people and families.

CSP's achievements so far

The Commissioning Support Programme works flexibly with all local authorities in England and their partner organisations to  help them achieve better outcomes for children, young people and their families.

Since CSP was launched in November 2008, we have:

• Offered support to every single local authority in the country – 152 local areas.
• Run over 250 regional events with attendees of 6,700 people.
• Offered localised training and development in nine regions across the country.
• Delivered a comprehensive range of professional training courses to thousands of senior managers and practitioners in the areas of health, education and social care.
• Received over 600,000 visits to the Commissioning Support Programme website.  50,000 users have downloaded our resources.
• Been joined online by over 3,500 registered users who share best practice and access leading edge training.
• We have distributed over 30,000 CSP resources requested by commissioners.
• Organised 35 Special Interest Groups established across the country, who are tackling a range of social issues for children and young people. 
• Worked alongside a range of government departments, agencies and national children’s charities in a way that no other organisation can.
• Developed a cutting-edge Outcomes and Efficiency model which is available to all 152 local authorities to help them make significant cuts in their budgets without limiting the effects on service delivery.