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Local public contracting of personal care services: procedure, quality, and innovation How to advance in the decommercialization of indirectly managed municipal services?

Any de realizació: 2023

Equip:

• Marc Martí-Costa (dir.)
• Cecilia Conde

Institution: La Confederació empresarial del Tercer Sector Social de Catalunya, amb el suport de l’Ajuntament de Barcelona

This study aims to continue deepening the knowledge and development of the characteristics of public procurement by local administrations in Catalonia, especially in personal care services. Thus, continuity is given to the reports on this topic carried out from 2018 to 2022 (except 2020).

Based on this framework, this study complements the previous quantitative analysis with qualitative data, considering the vision of the TSS entities and the municipal contracting bodies studied from seven public administrations in Catalonia. Specifically, the criteria for preparing the contractual specifications for personal care service contracts and the perception of the third sector as a service provider are explored. In this sense, the factors that facilitate or hinder social third sector entities from participating in the processes of contracting personal care services are identified. Additionally, special attention is paid to alternative management models for public procurement for the provision of these services, such as consultation and delegated management.

The results show that the quality of the service is fundamental in the preparation of the bid specifications for personal care services. Both local administration personnel and third-sector entities share the vision that these services should not be a business. However, the current regulatory framework for contracting does not allow non-profit entities to be privileged over for-profit entities (except in the case of reserved contracting); nor does it privilege proximity or roots in the bidders’ territory; two issues linked to the best quality of service.

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• Report of Local public contracting of personal care services: procedure, quality, and innovation How to advance in the decommercialization of indirectly managed municipal services?