NAVCA helps charities win contracts worth £1.6million
NAVCA has published an evaluation of their Tender Support Project. The project supported local charities and voluntary organisations to bid for and win contracts. The report shows that the £70,000 project helped 148 organisations win contracts worth over £1.6m. The project formed one part of the National Programme for Third Sector Commissioning, commissioned by the Cabinet Office and led by Local Government Improvement and Development. This evaluation of the scheme is timely. The government’s Public Services White Paper has an ambition to increase the number of smaller organisations able to win public service contracts. This evaluation shows that NAVCA and their members are able to make this ambition a reality for a relatively small amount of money. Kevin Curley, Chief Executive of NAVCA said, “This report shows NAVCA and our members are ideally placed to support small charities and voluntary organisations to win contracts. Small local charities often provide extremely popular and cost effective local services, but as the report highlights, there are numerous barriers that stop them from winning contracts. “This project proves that with a relatively small investment local charities can be helped to win contracts. Indeed, we think that the £1.6 million is rising all the time as we hear that more of the groups we helped are winning contracts. This support is turning the policy aspirations around commissioning into local reality.”
