Category Archives: services

Beyond contracting: public service stewardship to maximise public value

In this blog, John Tizard, co-author of our latest report Beyond contracting: public service stewardship to maximise public value, introduces some key issues and arguments. This is part of our series on public procurement – find out more here. The public sector in Wales spends over £6bn per year on the procurement of services, works and goods.… Read More...

The public must be assured its money is being well spent

As the public faces higher taxes, fundamental revisions are needed to public audit, argue John Tizard and David Walker. At a time of corrosive mistrust in parliament and public affairs, the National Audit Office stands solid. Under Amyas Morse it enjoys near mythical status as an honest and rigorous analyst of how public money is spent.… Read More...

Prompt payments matter

Successive governments have implored the public sector to ensure that they pay suppliers – especially smaller companies, charities and social enterprises – promptly. However, almost daily there are reports of such suppliers not being paid in accordance with government guidance or contract conditions. Delays can be many weeks and sometimes months. These delays have serious… Read More...

When outsourcing it’s vital to assess the full costs – not simply contract price

All too often public sector leaders and managers consider outsourcing public services because they believe it will save money. This can be tempting given the horrendous impact of austerity-driven cuts and budget constraints. With outsourcing as with many other temptations, it is always wise to consider the full implications of the offer before taking a… 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...

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 sector outsourcing and contractors must always be transparent

The BBC programme Panorama recently reported that it had seen documents suggesting that G4S has been making significant profits from running two immigration removal centres near Gatwick Airport. One of these, Brook House, was the focus of a Panorama investigation, which exposed chaos, bullying and and the abusive treatment of detainees by some staff. Panorama… Read More...

Let’s Adopt Public Service Ethos-Based Public Procurement And Contracting

The General Election discussion on the role of businesses in the delivery of public services should be welcomed by those committed to public service. Labour has announced that it would want to cap the pay of senior executives of companies that contract with the Government – and one assumes the wider public sector. It would… Read More...

Opportunity to showcase progressive public procurement

I am delighted to be a judge for the National Government Opportunities (GO) Excellence in Public Procurement Awards 2017/18 (National GO Awards). Having judged these national awards on several previous occasions, I am expecting to evaluate some exciting entries. If past years are anything to go by, I expect that I will be disappointed when… Read More...