The views of voluntary, local authority and independent providers, and of those commissioning their services, are collected via two questionnaires and examined.  These findings are set in the context provided by a literature review of recent overviews of commissioning, and the residential child care sector; and by a survey of current developments in the participation of young people in their care and welfare planning within residential care facilities.

Current government thinking is to promote the use of ‘contestability’ as a concept and practice for all services, including the residential child care sector. It states that there should be a distinction between purchasers and providers in public services; and that the service should be open to providers to have an opportunity to compete for public contracts. Following on from the Gershon report concerning public sector efficiency

 (www.hm-reasury.gov.uk/media/C/A/efficiency_review120704.pdf), commissioners of all children’s services are required to ensure that – over and above a child centred focus – the best value for money is obtained in terms of both quality and price. Responses to the questionnaire clearly support the observation that, whilst it would be misleading to reduce ‘contestability’ to the single idea of competition, current commissioning arrangements focus more keenly on price than any other factor. The specifi c effects of this upon the voluntary sector are given in the report; and the effects are compared with those for the local authority and independent sectors.

Concern is expressed by providers from all the sectors that this focus should equally be on practice. The research shows that providers are highly concerned about recent developments in the commissioning of residential child care. Their concern relates to the current definition and operation of commissioning and the ways in which it has the potential to adversely affect provision and practice.

Providers report that they perceive an imbalance of stress on costs over practice as the operating factors in deciding placement. In order to continue to prosper providers have to have regard for how they think the market for services is changing, rather than thinking about how they can operate more effectively as a sector.