Category Archives: procurement

Ethical change is long overdue

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Councillors must be contract aware – outsourcing is political Monday June 4th,

Most local authorities of all political persuasions currently outsource some of their services to the private sector. Some outsource more than others. Increasingly, authorities are bringing outsourced services back in-house – ‘in-sourcing’ as it is called. Such in-sourcing is being pursued by council leaders from all the major parties. There are many reasons why local… Read More...

Out of Contract

Public managers and elected members have extensive experience of procuring goods and services and contracting for supply from private firms and charities. But, say you are the new town or county hall leader. New councillors will be asking: do we have an accurate map of council functions, coloured by who carries them out? If it… Read More...

Carillion shows us why public service providers must act ethically

The Committee of Standards in Public Life has made a timely intervention in the outsourcing debate. Its recommendations should be implemented without delay, says John Tizard. The Committee for Standards in Public Life recently suggested public service providers meet the same ethical standards expected of the public sector itself. Specifically, it recommends that: All public… Read More...

The contracting conundrum

The dawning realisation that public service contracting has had its day can only grow after 3 May. As new councillors settle in and town halls change political colour, they will further question the shibboleths of the post-1980 era of ‘new public management’ – especially the belief that outsourcing major services out to companies is necessarily… Read More...

Local authority officers – be ahead of the curve and advise politicians on how to move on from outsourcing

Local government is increasingly questioning the wisdom and efficacy of traditional outsourcing of services to the business sector. Politicians and their senior officers are aware of a raft of high-profile outsourcing failures, and what is more the public is increasingly aware of these. Labour, Conservative and councils with no overall political control are taking services… Read More...

Why ‘insourcing’ should always be considered

Councils are increasingly looking to ‘in-house’ services that previously been outsourced. Finance directors intending to do this need better information about contracts, say David Walker and John Tizard. Finance professionals across the public sector are increasingly alert to the need to rethink outsourcing. Conservative as well as Labour councils are ‘in-housing’ services previously tendered to… Read More...

Public service markets and competitive tendering can be the antithesis of social value

The Government has published new guidance on the Social Value Act to help commissioners and policymakers get the most out of the legislation. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has issued the introductory guide, which it claims gives ‘practical advice’ for anyone carrying out duties under the Act for the first time,… Read More...

Rebranding will not solve the problems of public service outsourcing

Outsourcing needs more than a refresh and rebrand, argues John Tizard. A pause to collect some evidence is urgently required. It is interesting but not surprising that the public service outsourcing industry is calling for the industry to fight back against the political and public concern of the policy and practice of outsourcing public services.… Read More...

We need to know who the public sector contracts with and how they perform

The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has told the Government that it needs to better understand the number of contracts held across departments by a single private company, and how it is performing in those contracts. This comes after the Committee considered the failure of the largest commercial further education (FE) provider, ‘learndirect’.… Read More...