I think of it as a way to procure services.
Civil servants are purchasing trains, designing and procuring services, setting fares and determining investment.
The lead organisation would then procure services on behalf all the local organisations to eliminate duplication.
"Also, a group of schools procuring services and equipment jointly is much better than a single school.
Hele's has begun working collaboratively with three neighbouring schools that have also converted to academies, and they are looking at jointly procuring services such as teacher training.
Consolidation is, in part, motivated by a growing recognition of the need for scale as authorities look to procure services from fewer care providers.
When public sector commissioners decide to procure services from the private sector, they need to: Ensure that commissioning decisions are compatible with wider policy and best practice.
Capita, KPMG, PwC and United Health the previous employer of NHS CEO, Simon Stevens, are now listed as suppliers to six of the nine regional consortiums set up to help GPs' commissioning groups procure services.
"The Social Value Act will require housing associations to consider wider social value when procuring services and there are four main ways in which housing associations can engage with other social enterprises," he says.
The corporate market is clearly ready for a new model for procuring services and investors should continue to see significant growth going forward from Blur which is at the forefront of this trend.
One senior NGO worker, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he would not be able to procure services from Syriatel because it is under economic sanctions from the EU and the US.
