The new government will have to deliver significant cuts in public sector spending whilst still retaining quality of delivery. The public sector will need to examine how services can be delivered through innovative outsourcing partnerships with the private and third sectors to enable efficiency savings, flexibility and choice.
Efficiency Through Service Delivery Partnerships 2010 will examine the public sector’s role as a commissioner or purchaser of services: which services can and should be outsourced; the different outsourcing delivery models in practice at central and local level; achieving value for money from outsourcing service delivery; plus all the lessons and initiatives in outsourcing delivery that can be applied across the public sector.
£6bn of spending cuts has been announced as the new coalition government attempts to reduce Britain’s record public deficit of £163bn this year. Efficiency gains must all be achieved without having an adverse affect on frontline services, and we look forward to hearing from Ian Watmore, Chief Operating Officer, Efficiency and Reform Group on the government’s plans, rising to the challenge of doing more for less and the renegotiation of existing contracts with major suppliers to drive efficiency savings.
It has been estimated that £4bn could be saved by sharing back office functions such as HR and financial administration across the public sector. Outsourcing such services would also enable public sector organisations to gain specialist providers as partners skilled in project management experience, proven IT infrastructure and the innovation that comes from real knowledge and a passion for improvement. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) believes that the government could save up to £30bn by 2013-15 by allowing the private sector to provide all non-core activities such as back office functions and we look forward to discussing this area in more depth with Emma Watkins, Head of Public Service Policy, CBI Public Services Directorate.
The National Audit Office has warned that the value for money of 43 major government projects worth around £200bn is at risk because of significant weaknesses in the government’s commercial skills and expertise. The private sector has an increasing role in the delivery of public services, therefore it is critical that public sector employees have the necessary commercial skills and expertise to fully assess complex outsourcing projects, with the biggest skills gaps appearing in contract management, commissioning, risk identification and management, and business acumen. Confirmed speaker Keith Davis, Director of Cross Government and Efficiency Practice at the NAO, will discuss in more detail performance management of large scale outsourced contracts and the need for increased commercial expertise across the public sector.
We look forward to welcoming you at Efficiency through Service Delivery Partnerships 2010, which promises to be the definitive event for stakeholders engaged with increasing efficiency through outsourcing service delivery.
© GovNet Events 2010
