Discussion inevitably turned to commissioning and the challenges facing those of us trying to get public sector agencies at a local level to commission innovative services from innovative third sector organisations.

Phil reiterated the government’s support for innovative third sector work to be funded by local commissioners. However, my experience, especially in the field of children’s services, is that there is a substantial gap between the undoubtedly genuine desire of central government to make this happen, and the reticence of many local agencies to genuinely engage.

No doubt the Office of the Third Sector’s new training programme for commissioners will start to address this issue, but I believe much more radical cultural change in the civil service is necessary before we start to see local agencies shedding their risk aversion and moving away from the ‘usual suspects’.