'No excuses. Embrace partnership now. Step towards change!' report

In their report on the barriers to entry for third sector providers, The Third Sector Commissioning Task Force concluded that the third sector should be 'hard-wired' into continuing reforms.

The task force said in No excuses. Embrace partnership now. Step towards change! that the government should consider whether reforms would increase or limit the scope for greater diversity of supply and whether there might be any unintended consequences to third sector engagement.

The task force emphasised that the mechanisms for increasing the range of providers available to patients rested with the development of commissioning.

There had already been a significant shift of provision (from council in-house services to external providers) within the social care sector. For example, a study published by the Commission for Social Care Inspection found that the percentage of home care hours delivered by the independent sector had increased from 2% in 1992, to more than 73% in 2005. By March 2006, there were 4,622 registered domiciliary care agencies, with 80% in private or voluntary sector ownership. While this change of provision had been largely driven by finance, client choice did increase.