Industry news

The Sodexo UK and Ireland chief executive, Debbie White, has called for the UK government to appoint an ‘inspector of ethics and transparency’ to regulate public-private outsourcing.

The news came as part of Sodexo’s public service pledge, which the company calls ‘an ethical manifesto for its contracts and conduct, for citizens and community’ intended to achieve ‘a fairer and better society.’

Sodexo also announced that it will be committing to independent client satisfaction reviews, unannounced audits and transparency with its revenues.

This drive for ethical outsourcing management and delivery has been welcomed by the National Outsourcing Association (NOA). The NOA has been working with both the private and the public sector on raising ethical standards within the outsourcing industry.

Sodexo is one of the most prominent private suppliers to the coalition government, supporting the public sector in matters of justice, defence, healthcare and education. The company employs over 17,000 individuals who are currently working on government contracts.

The pledge comes shortly after the UK government announced its own drive for transparency on the part of private companies that procure public sector contracts. The coalition made similar claims in 2010, but fell well short of their transparency aims.

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Read this next: Government Pledge on Public-Private Contract Transparency Falls Short

Recently renationalised Network Rail may be forced to sell its telecoms work by the Department for Transport (DfT).

Private sector providers such as O2, BT and Vodafone could begin providing Wi-Fi services and transmitting signalling information to train drivers, as part of plans brought about by the DfT to either outsource the rights through a long-term travel and transport contract or sell them off entirely.

A Network Rail source told the Independent that “the work could still be kept in-house, but one of the views at DfT is that Network Rail is too big – and they don’t think this is a core business.”

A final decision is expected this summer.

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The Local Government Association (LGA) has awarded a total of £390,000 to 27 councils in order to help them develop their use of technology.

This is part of the LGA’s Digital Experts programme, where the councils will learn from digital tools and approaches that have already been implemented successfully elsewhere.

Programmes include reducing digital exclusion, harnessing social media, enabling remote working for staff, and working more effectively with partners and community groups.

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Read this next: IT Staff at Scottish Borders Council Oppose Outsourcing

The Times of India has reported that the Macquarie Group, an Australian financial services provider, will decide between Infosys and Accenture for an IT outsourcing contract worth $150 million.

The five-year long contract will cover app development, testing and infrastructure management. Both companies have had dealings with the Australian giant in the past, where Infosys secured a $25 million BPO deal in 2012 and Accenture assisted the Group with core banking implementations.

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Off the back of recent research, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has requested more transparency in outsourcing dealings between the public and private sector.

The ICO claims that there has been more pressure on the public sector to be open with information regarding outsourcing contracts, but that the same has not been the case with the third party suppliers involved.

ICO research has also found that a high percentage of the public want private firms to be subject to the same freedom of information requests that central and local government can be.

Steve Wood, Head of Policy at the ICO, said: ‘It isn’t a secret that the growth in outsourcing has led to a fall in transparency, as freedom of information laws haven’t always been able to follow the public pound. But this isn’t an insurmountable problem.

‘We’re calling on public authorities and contractors to consider transparency from an early stage, before a contract is even signed.'

Wood went on to suggest that the government may need to ‘step in’ to ensure that the public can access the information that ‘they should be entitled to.’

This news comes shortly after Computer Weekly revealed that the coalition government has fallen short of its pledge to be more transparent with public-private contracts, which it committed to in 2010.

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Read this next: Government Pledge on Public-Private Contract Transparency Falls Short

Confidential documents obtained by the Guardian have revealed that the EU is considering proposals to outsource Mediterranean migrant patrols offshore to North African countries.

The Italian government has put forward plans to reach agreements with nations such as Egypt and Tunisia, which would see EU funding and training of foreign navies, who would assume control of search-and-rescue missions for the tens of thousands of migrants who make the perilous Mediterranean crossing.

Speaking to the Guardian, William Spindler, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said: “Given the situation in the Mediterranean, we need to explore all the available options. But it’s not a fully developed plan. Some countries are very reticent.”

The European Commission is set to produce a new policy blueprint on the migration issues facing the EU in May.

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Read this next: European Commission Awards Largest Ever Outsourcing Contract

Information technology staff at the Scottish Borders Council (SBC) have reacted furiously to the news that the SBC plans to outsource 80 of their roles.

The SBC is entering into a joint arrangement with Edinburgh’s City Council which will result in 80 public sector IT staff being outsourced to a supplier in October.

Over 60 of those staff, along with Unite union officials, orchestrated a mass meeting to oppose the decision.

Tony Trench, Unite’s regional industrial officer, said: ‘it’s not just IT staff at the council who should be worried about their jobs, IT staff at places like NHS Borders should also be concerned.

‘We disagree totally with plans to outsource any jobs and want to see the figures they have used to justify this.’

Another meeting will be held in the week beginning 23rd March 2015, accompanied by the launch of a petition to oppose the planned outsourcing.

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Read this next: Number of US Tech Firms Outsourcing IT Services Doubles since 2013

‘We'll publish every government contract worth over £25,000 in full – every clause, every performance measure, every penalty trigger.’

This was a pledge made by David Cameron on 22 February 2010, accompanied by a manifesto commitment and a clause in the coalition agreement between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.

This complete public-private transparency was in part intended to aid ‘small businesses, charities and social enterprises’ in their competition to procure government services.

However, Computer Weekly has reported that, since that day, £5 billion worth of contracts involving public deals have not been published, and many of the published contracts have been stripped of all meaningful details.

Computer Weekly also reported that, shortly after Cameron made his pledge in 2010, the Cabinet Office sent a private letter to its suppliers giving them permission to redact all information that they considered confidential. Government and suppliers have since been accused of being overzealous with what information they remove from the contracts before they are published.

Charles Kenny, who has conducted research into government contracting transparency for the Global Center of Development, said: ‘It is easier to over-redact and avoid an angry confrontation than to under-redact and face very limited pressure from civil society.’

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Read this next: VAT Relief on Outsourcing and Shared Services Opens Industry for Further Growth

The Deputy Mayor of Middlesbrough, Dave Budd, has fiercely criticised the “scaremongering” surrounding Middlesbrough Council’s decision to move key services out of authority control, with detractors accusing the Council of back-door privatisation.

The authority has agreed to embark upon a joint venture with the Norfolk County Council-owned Norse Commercial Services, in a move that could see services such as bin collections and school meals placed under the control of an external operator.

The council, which will retain 50% of any operating profit under the agreement, has said that its environmental services must save £3.6 million over the next three years. More than 1400 staff members could be transferred following the agreement.

The plan has met with criticism, with a group of independent councilors launching a petition calling for the Council to reconsider.

Attending an executive meeting of the council on Tuesday, Budd spoke out against the move, saying “I would hope that people would be considerate towards the workforce. There have been some lies told about this. Anyone in this room who has done this should examine their conscience.”

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Read this next: UK Public Wants to be Involved in Public Sector Outsourcing

In the 2015 Budget, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne removed VAT charges for private sector bidders on many public contracts.

From 1st April 2015, non-departmental public bodies and privately owned service providers will be eligible for VAT refunds when they procure services and operations from the government.

The government has gone into more detail regarding this change in policy on its website, which specifies that: ‘There has been no provision to refund VAT to non-departmental public bodies sharing services with their parent department or between themselves… With the expected wider take-up on shared services, the government wishes to ensure that these bodies are not at a VAT disadvantage when they enter into such arrangements.’

The website also clarifies why private suppliers are included in this policy change: ‘Because of competition issues, this will also include situations where they procure an eligible service directly from a private sector provider.’

Government departments are expecting to save £13 billion as a result of these changes. Further government outsourcing is also anticipated – the amount the government spends on outsourcing has already doubled to £88 billion since 2010, when the coalition government first took power.

Audrey Fearing, a partner at Ernst & Young who is involved in government and public sector tax, said: ‘this opens the way for public sector bodies to explore innovative ways for reducing cost of delivery, by sharing back office functions, or indeed outsourcing third parties who can drive greater economies of scale.’

Kerry Hallard, CEO of the National Outsourcing Association, had high praise for these changes. She said: ‘We applaud this common sense initiative from the government. The coalition has already invested £88 billion into outsourcing; they have done so because they know it works.

‘The introduction of VAT refunds for suppliers will enable many more public departments to take advantage of the cost savings and service improvements that outsourcing can provide. As a result, we expect this change to bring significant growth to the outsourcing industry.’

However, Hallard also warned that government departments will need to shape up in the way that they manage their outsourcing contracts, if they’re going to make their new outsourcing deals effective.

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