The A-Z of Commissioning is a suite of training materials designed to help all stakeholders in children’s services better understand commissioning. The training materials are linked to the document Good Commissioning: Principles and Practice.

The materials aim to help leaders, commissioners, providers and the communities involved in children’s services to develop a shared understanding of commissioning and the essential components that make it work. We have grouped these components into three categories:

A – Governance and frameworks

B – Commissioning activity

C – Capacity and competencies

There are 18 modular PowerPoint presentations that explore these 3 categories of good commissioning.

We have also created 4 other modules that support the main focus of our work going forward

These are:

• Outcomes and efficiency
• Schools commissioning
• Decommissioning
• Commissioning the voluntary and community sector (VCS).

Below you can download the eighteen modules individually or as three separate ZIP files containing the materials grouped into each of the three sections.

Download ZIP files

Section A – Governance and frameworks

Section B – Commissioning activity

Section C – Capacity and competencies

Download individual modules

0 - Introduction to commissioning 

Governance and frameworks

A1 The commissioning process

A2 Commissioning principles

A3 Strategies and plans

A4 Relationships between levels of commissioning

A5 Governance 

Commissioning activity

B1 Mechanisms

B2 Optimising resources

B3 Whole system design

B4 Targeting

B5 Data and intelligence

B6 Performance management 

Capacity and competencies

C1 Making it happen

C2 Base decisions on outcomes

C3 Leadership

C4 Innovation

C5 Managing change

C6 Culture

C7 Senior Commitment