Ticon UK Ltd

Word reaches us from inside the DCLG, the new Government has taken agin some words that were commonly used by the previous administration. The first is anything to do with 'regional' or 'regionalism', the second is 'commissioning'.

It is not hard to see why regional politics is being frowned at. The Tories had always opposed regionalism as a wasteful project that delivered benefit to the citizen. With both ideological and financial arguments being lined up against regionalism it is hard to see how the Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnerships can expect to last beyond March 2011.

The more interesting news is that 'commissioning' has become a banned word. As a procurement professionals we have always been concerned that the term 'commissioning' was used to obfuscate and divert attention from the fact that a financial contract was being put into place in return for services. So it is fair to ask why social care has chosen to define its contracting as somehow different from the rest of a council's purchasing activity.

However, Councils understand that budget cuts will force them to review the value that they derive from all of their suppliers and it seems churlish to suggest that the vocabulary of business will protect Social Care departments from scrutiny in the search for savings.