Why a toolkit?
As a membership organisation that speaks to government on behalf of businesses of all sizes that provide, pay for and depend upon public services, we’ve created this online hub to generate discussion and share ideas about how contracting can continue delivering for the public amid rising demand for services.
Markets have long been instrumental to how public services are delivered, with their reach expanding under successive governments since the 1980s, who recognised that dynamic, competitive markets help the state access the expertise and innovation it needs in order to meet the growing needs and expectations of the public.
In contracting, like other markets, the customer should be king. Commissioners already have access to a wide range of policy levers and delivery models available to help ensure that government gets the results it wants. Outsourcing; joint ventures; mutuals; public sector provision; partnership working.
Yet too often, the experience of suppliers is that commissioners fall into short-term models of outsourcing by default, missing opportunities to generate wider, longer-term value. It’s also the case that suppliers also need to act differently, because working for government is different to working in other markets. Being funded by taxpayers requires higher standards of accountability and transparency, and approaching contractual negotiations in the spirit of partnership.
The CBI is committed, on behalf of its members, to working with government to promote more competitive, accountable and transparent public sector markets. This toolkit is our first contribution to that discussion and is targeted at a commissioner audience. It covers both central and local government, as well as two specific central government services with particular market management challenges: criminal justice and welfare-to-work.
We don’t aspire to replace internal government guidance on contracting. This is a hub for the public, private and voluntary sectors to reflect on challenges and consider the choices available. Our toolkit – which looks at how to create and manage public service markets, and building in-house capability – is intended to be collaborative and iterative.