The way that the public sector delivers services has changed considerably over the years and with no "one size fits all", a variety of different models have been adopted including outsourcing to the private sector, setting up wholly owned subsidiaries to deliver services and sharing services with other public sector bodies, whether by contractual arrangements or joint "Teckal" entities.
Whilst there have been many success stories in this sector, there have equally been ventures that have failed and mistakes made. The Public Interest report in relation to commercial subsidiaries in Nottingham and Croydon paint a picture of how things can go wrong. In June 2020, the Outsourcing Playbook encouraged the public sector to carry out a delivery model assessment in certain circumstances to ascertain which is the most appropriate model going forward. The long awaited Procurement Green paper published in December 2020 was surprisingly silent on the matter of public-public cooperation exemptions going forward.
Against this backdrop, the Trowers & Hamlins Public Sector team thought it would be an opportune time to engage with the market to understand what the public sector really thinks of insourcing, Teckal subsidiaries and shared service arrangements. We want to understand what has gone well and where important lessons can be learnt and what the future might hold. The UK Government is at an important milestone post Brexit in deciding how it wants to shape public services going forward and this is a key opportunity for us to influence those discussions and reflect the candid views of those that deliver such services day in day out across different sectors.
How can you be involved
The first stage in the process is for you to register your interest and participate in a short questionnaire. Although you will provide your details at registration, this is for the purposes of sending you the final report only and asking at a later date if you wish to participate in follow up events. Any answers and comments that you provide in the questionnaire will be kept anonymous.
We will be analysing all of the questionnaire responses received and using them as the basis of a report revealing the data and findings. This report will be shared with all participants in the survey and you will be given the opportunity to be involved in a round table event and/or seminar in the early Summer. The report will be published and shared with key figures in the sector and contacts at Government involved in the reforms.
The deadline for completing this survey is Tuesday 1st June 2021.
We would like to thank you in advance for your interest and participation.
Please click here to begin the survey. It should take you no longer than 5 minutes to complete the survey.
