In the spotlight: Can the third sector deliver on large scale?

In a blog on June 1st, I posted on the development of a new consortium for the third sector that will bid for large public sector contracts in education, healthcare, and welfare.

A team of Eastsiders has spent the summer developing this initiative with our partners at
Futurebuilders. After a busy summer, this consortium - 3SC - is now legally established and more importantly has bid and won a large contract as part of DWP's Future Jobs Fund to create 3000 new jobs for the long-term unemployed. This contract is worth some £20million to the sector.

In the last few days, I've been on the road with our team visiting cities around the UK to brief the many charities and social enterprises that are creating jobs as part of 3SC's Future Jobs Fund. The range and diversity of organisations that will be creating these jobs is exciting - from small to large, spanning all regions and working with many different types of disadvantaged groups.

I learnt a lot from being on the road and hearing people's stories. Screenreader - an organisation working for blind people - told me that unemployment rates among the blind is 70%. And we know from work at Eastside that other disadvantaged groups experience very high levels of worklessness. The Future Jobs Fund then has great potential to support the transition into paid work for many people who would not otherwise be able to find employment right now.

There is another point here too. The consortium model is new and DWP - not known for risk taking - has taken something of a risk by entrusting 3SC with the delivery of a project of this scale. We now have an opportunity to show that the third sector can come together and can effectively deliver. If we do get it right then we create a bright future for the third sector to win a larger share of public sector contracts. And of course if we dont get it right, then the opposite will be true. The challenge starts now!