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Fairer contracting and responsible contractual behaviour

In 2005–6, the Care Services Improvement Partnership, an arms-length agency which operated in the UK from 2004 to 2008, published a Guide to Fairer Contracting in two parts: part 1 covered the purchase of care placements and domiciliary care services in the UK social care market, and aimed to "open up a debate about what constitutes a fair contract", while part 2 covered writing specifications for fairer contracts. These documents were concerned with improving the relationships between commissioners and providers of care services, where effective contracting is seen as a skill which contributes to securing the best outcomes for recipients of care, and unfair contracting, especially unfair pricing, can increase the likelihood that the provider's business will fail and the service will be withdrawn. Deborah Clogg noted that a contractual document with "terms that appear only to reflect the interests of the purchaser" will appear to contradict any other expressions of "partnership" being adopted, and warned that leaving the contracting process to corporate lawyers or contract officers without a background in social care can be unproductive.