Outsource Magazine Issue 24 - (Page 56)

This issue: View From The Top; innoVaTion; proFessional DeVelopmenT; ouTsourcing BiTes Back; eVenTs calenDar w View From The Top NOA Chairman Martyn Hart looks at dramatic changes in the public sector landscape… elcome to the NOA section of Outsource Magazine. A lot has happened in the outsourcing industry since the last issue went to press, and in particular, we’ve seen a great deal of movement in the public sector, as I forecast in my notes in the last edition. The announcement of the budget in March, a commitment towards greater transparency in procurement processes from the government, and a raft of other measures introduced to ensure SMEs can get a slice of the public sector pie have all meant that outsourcing has never been far from the headlines. When Chancellor George Osborne announced his budget, it was in the shadow of some of the most radical cuts to public sector spending in living memory, and an early opportunity to gauge how successful they had been. Of course, those expecting the Chancellor to scrap the measures introduced last October were always likely to be disappointed, and it soon became clear that the focus of Mr Osborne’s “pro-growth” budget was one of encouraging entrepreneurs and attacking what the Prime Minister referred to as “enemies of enterprise”. Measures were introduced in line with this philosophy, including an increase in Income Tax relief on the Enterprise Investment Scheme, and the introduction of a new Enterprise Capital Growth Fund to provide more than £37.5 million of equity finance to SMEs – all of which were clearly aimed at easing the load on smaller W organisations, and encouraging growth. By supporting smaller organisations and allowing them to muscle in on territory ordinarily occupied by larger companies, it seemed that the government was ready to embrace multi-sourcing as a means of driving down costs and increasing efficiency. The willingness to create a more transparent procurement process seemed aimed at priming a number of smaller organisations with niche specialisations to deliver public services for years to come. However, the start of May brought a sharp twist in the tale, as the BBC revealed a leaked document which suggested that the “wholesale outsourcing” of public services would be “politically unpalatable”. The document apparently suggested that ministers wanted to use more charities, social enterprises and employee-owned ‘mutual’ organisations, and raised significant questions about whether the government will be able to deliver these services and make the level of savings it has promised just by using charities and mutuals. So what can we expect to see next? Assuming that the leaked document is accurate, then what will this mean for the provision of outsourced services in the public sector in the coming months? It’s clear that the jury is still out on how effectively charities and social enterprises can deliver public services, and it would be a surprise if the government decided to forsake the use of outsourcing in any shape in favour of using them. Instead, it’s more likely that we’ll see service providers looking to deliver outsourcing in a number of different ways – and perhaps we’ll see an increased number of joint ventures and partnerships as a result? Nonetheless, it’s clear that outsourcing still has an important role to play for the public sector, not just in terms of driving down costs, but also adding value. The coming months will be important for the government in terms of deciding how they utilise the private sector – and it could be that the decisions they make now will mould the success of public services for years to come. As always, if you would like more information on the NOA and its activities visit www.noa.co.uk or contact us at admin@noa.co.uk or at 020 7292 8686. Martyn Hart, Chairman, National Outsourcing Association (NOA) To find out more about the NOA visit www.noa.co.uk 56 www.outsourcemagazine.co.uk ●●● http://www.noa.co.uk http://www.noa.co.uk http://www.noa.co.uk http://www.outsourcemagazine.co.uk

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Outsource Magazine Issue 24

Editor's letter
News & comments
Seeing through the cloud
Steve Forbes
Embracing a lean culture in recruitment
The roar of the crowd
Andrew De Cleyn
Greening the chain
Private properties
NOA round-up
PR Chandrasekar
Ten ways to shake your world
Matt Barrie
Roundtable: an excellent process
Talentspotting
The talent question
Transition and change
Never the twain
Setting the standard
Touching base
Head-to-Head
Top ten
The legal view
HfS research
Online round-up
Sourcebites
Inside source
The last word

Outsource Magazine Issue 24

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