WIREDGOV

The Spending Review will commit to outsourcing more public services to save Government money and reduce the deficit, but recent scandals throw into question its ability to manage those contracts. A new online guide aims to tackle this problem.

The Government’s drive for efficiency savings means it will have to rely more and more on outside providers to deliver essential public services, despite its poor track record on managing outsourced services.

As the Institute for Government has argued before, government must better manage these markets to ensure they offer value-for-money.  It has recently published an interactive ‘Guide to Public Service Markets’, to address this long-standing problem by offering practical advice to practitioners in all levels of government.

The shutdown of Kids Company is the most high-profile recent example of criticism over Whitehall’s ability to manage contracts, but there have been many other headline-grabbing incidents of mismanagement, including Serco over-charging for electronic tagging and G4S not fully staffing the Olympics.

Now public servants who manage outsourced services - from probation and local government, to health and employment – will have a single resource help them succeed in setting up and managing new markets.

Dr. Jo Casebourne, IFG programme director, said:

“Many of our schools, care homes, prisons, and other public services are now run by private providers who receive taxpayers’ funding. The public services industry is worth approximately £90 billion today, and is still growing.

“The PM will only be able to deliver on his promise of ‘delivering more for less’ when civil servants are able to work with these providers more effectively. That is what makes the IfG’s work in this area – and an online guide like this – so important in the current fiscal environment.”

George McFarlane, CBI Head of Public Services, said:

“The Institute for Government continues to make important contributions to the debate around public service markets, and its latest guide will serve as a timely reminder to those charged with their stewardship. By drawing on the experience and expertise of the private sector, which brings innovation and investment to public service delivery, businesses can help the Government achieve its vision for a ‘smarter state’.

“The relationship between the Government and businesses shouldn’t just be about two signatures on a contract – partnership is essential and firms want to see dialogue by default as the transformation of public services begins to take shape.”

The online and interactive ‘Guide to Public Service Markets’ is divided into three sections:

1. About: explains complexities of public service market systems. 
2. Manage: advice on how public service markets can be managed more effectively, and where things have gone wrong in the past.
3. Analyse: produce a tailored report with practical suggestions for addressing identified risks.

For more information, please contact Nicole Valentinuzzi on 07850313791.​

Notes to editors

1. The ‘Guide to Public Service Markets’ can be found here: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publications/public-service-markets-diagnostic-tool.

2. For more, see our ‘Making Public Service Markets Work’ programme.
3. The Institute for Government is an independent charity founded in 2008 to help make government more effective.
4. We want to hear if the public service markets tool and supporting information is useful to you so please get in touch