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After Carillion: Public sector outsourcing and contracting
The Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC) report on government contracting and outsourcing is, according to a tweet from Kathy Edwards, CEO of Children England, …”essential reading”.
The report summary notes that:
Our report finds that government ineffectiveness has contributed to the problems that Carillion and other companies have faced. The Government has deliberately promoted an aggressive approach to risk transfer to the private sector – often even attempting to transfer risks that the government itself has completely failed to analyse or to understand.
And recommends
…a fundamental change of attitude by the Government towards its partners – ensuring that risk transfer is realistic and that quality, an appreciation of systemic risk and economic impact as well as price drives decision making. The Cabinet Office should also aggregate the risk exposure from across the whole of government to large contractors like Serco and Capita, so there is a better appreciation of how much the public sector as a whole is relying on individual companies.