Category Archives: public sector
Perception deceptions
Opportunity to showcase progressive public procurement
Buyer, be aware when outsourcing – check bidders’ corporate health
Over the last year or so, and most recently in the last few weeks, there has been a litany of major UK outsourcing companies announcing profit warnings and facing major challenges to their business models.
Serco, G4S and now Mitie and Capita have hit the headlines for reasons that they would not have chosen. These companies and others are very...
Values Matter But To Be Real They Must Be Lived
Values matter. They can drive behaviours and performance in businesses, co-operatives, social enterprises, charities, community groups, the public sector and indeed individuals. They differentiate between and tell us much about both organisations and individuals.
Values are about more than some words on a poster, on a web site, in a chief executives peroration, in a customer, user, or citizen charter,...
Where’s the respect between the voluntary and public sectors?
Local government is facing severe financial challenges and yet demand for services continues to rise.
No surprise then that local authorities and the public sector are turning to the voluntary and community sector (VCS) in the expectation – and sometimes desperate hope – that it will fill the gaps in provision.
But without an honest dialogue and understanding between the VCS...
Public Sector Outsourcing Must Only Involve Ethical Companies
Recent revelations about the popular and well known high street companies Sports Direct and BHS follow an increasing litany of business failures and failure of business ethics. The economy, communities and families are still paying the price for the collapse of companies in the banking and wider financial sector in 2008. The sad reality is that there are many...
Brexit – consequences for public procurement
The narrow majority for Brexit in the recent EU Referendum could have substantial consequences for UK public procurement.
This may not have been the result that many of us voted for but given the Government feels it must now press ahead to take the UK out of the EU, it is important to take measure of and understand the potential...
Where are the revolutionary public sector leaders?
The government is pressing ahead with the privatisation of many services and outsourcing. In fact, central and local government, the NHS and wider public sector are relentlessly extending the reach, scope and volume of public service outsourcing. A change in Conservative leader could accelerate this.
In part, this is a direct result of government policy to redefine and reduce the...
Keep the relationship alive
Local government is changing and faces the most severe financial test for many decades, certainly in the experience and memories of both its political and executive leaders.
After more than five years of cuts in central government support, more are planned for the remainder of this Parliament. Worse still, the axe is not falling evenly across local authorities and nor...