The Westminster governmen says that the need for spending cuts means that public authorities around the country need to find new, more efficient, ways of working. Although opponents argue that the process is driven by political dogma, it’s clear that local authorities, the NHS and other service providers throughout the UK are looking to change.
Over the past few month, a Scots law firm, Burness, have been running a series of seminars to help them explore new ideas. Most of these have just been for the senior executives, procurement officers and others in the public sector itself. But the last of them, held yesterday in Glasgow, brought public and private sectors together to look at “Alternative Delivery Models”.
Stephen Phillips, the partner who has coordinated the series said: “They’re looking at the services they provide and starting to ask searching questions about how they’re delivered. They’re having to think about solutions that, even a short time ago, would have been unthinkable.”
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He told his audience of about 60 that organisations were very much feeling their way through a range of possible relationships. These range from the outsourcing of specific functions to the creation of corporate joint ventures, all of which carried potential risks as well as rewards. But he insisted that any outcomes had to be “objectively verifiable” if the exercise was to work. That involved a process known as “competitive dialogue” - setting up systems in which public authorities look at new solutions to achieve their chosen outcomes. He said that the private sector is also being encouraged to think "of what the public authority is trying to achieve rather than necessarily maximising their own profits". Phillips said: “In the traditional format, the private sector would have been presented with a fully developed contract. All it would be asked to do was put a cost against that service. Under competitive dialogue, it could be more a process in which it lays out the framework of what they’re seeking to achieve and it’s up to the private sector to come up with solutions of how to deliver that. “It means that public authorities are questioning their own models and assumptions about how they deliver services. They need to answer those before they even think about finding a private sector partner to make sure that there are efficiencies. “Part of the exercise has to be about asking what the end users really need and then work backwards from that rather that insisting that we have to start with the infrastructure and staffing already in place, keeping the roles they currently perform.” His colleague Gavin Paton, a contract law specialist, said that there was a formula for success. “It involves adequate preparation, plus a good deal and effective management. Get any part of that wrong and you have a time bomb waiting to go off. “Nine times out of ten, the time spent on preparation has a direct impact on the final job. It’s essential that the goal is clearly defined right at the start. That could include anything from saving money to ‘cutting the clutter’ to let a public authority focus on core activities. But by setting goals, the client is setting out a benchmark against which results can be measured.” The audience was attentive. Many had clearly been thinking about reform for some time. Delegates from local authorities talked privately about the way in which they were already sharing some administrative services. As one put it, “a system with 32 unitary authorities, each with their own senior officials doing the same job, is unsustainable”. Those from the NHS felt considerable frustration from what they saw as political interference. One talked of the way they’d put together a plan to make the existing delivery of services more streamlined, only to have the whole project blocked by health secretary. “And now she’s complaining about the costs of the system we’re left having to operate.” The private sector seemed more concerned about the whole procurement process and the legal framework laid down from Europe. This is seen as over-regulated and highly bureaucratic. It’s also expensive and time-consuming, so much so that most small and medium sized companies no longer even try to bid for most public sector contracts. However, after strongly worded criticism from the European Parliament last year, the Commission has just issued a green paper outlining areas for reform. In Stephen Phillips’ view “it’s hugely encouraging that the Commission has come up with this Green Paper and are pro-actively seeking feedback on the kind of regime that should be in place. “There’s considerable frustration right across the board, throughout the public authorities and the private sector, about the costs and bureaucracy of the current procurement system. No-one questions the basic principle of having a level playing field but the rules have gone too far in the other direction and so the proposals are very welcome.” However, although the commission has invited answers to quite detailed questions, he does wonder how much of the feedback will actually be taken on board. He also has questions about how quickly any reform will be implemented in the UK. He hopes that both public and private sectors would put pressure on the politicians here to bring in the changes as soon as possible.We need your support. Please donate to The Caledonian Mercury
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