Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has called for councils to take back direct control of local services, including the provision of utilities such as power and water.
Outcome-based commissioning could help make some public services more efficient as well as help develop new models of provision, experts at a CIPFA roundtable event have said.
Outsourcing Department for Work and Pensions health and disability assessments has not been value for money, with the costs of tests increasings by 65% in a new contract, auditors have found.
Housing association mergers can bring big benefits but are not always the right way to go. Here are some questions to think about before you start off down the merger path.
The government exceeded a target to spend a quarter of Whitehall’s procurement budget with small- and medium-sized business by 2014/15, figures from the Cabinet Office have revealed.
This Spending Review isn’t simply about achieving more for less. After the chancellor’s announcements today will reduce government spending by nearly a fifth, we’re now talking...
The government has been told it must take a “balanced approach” to reforms of Whitehall outsourcing, including moves to open book accounting, if it wants to ensure the sector can continue to provide...
The trend towards ever-greater outsourcing is putting vital public services in the hands of potentially unstable conglomerates but leaving public bodies with the asset risk.
Whitehall will not be able to cut spending and bring about a more efficient state unless it improves its management of outsourcing deals, Prime Minister David Cameron has been warned.
Councils dominated by one political party achieve lower procurement savings than more competitive authorities, with the difference as much as £2.6bn a year, according to an Electoral Reform...
Labour plans to accelerate the nationalisation of rail services by using break clauses in franchises to take operations into public ownership rather than waiting until the contracts expire.
Cabinet Office minister Matt Hancock has set a cross-government target for one third of all Whitehall spending to be with small businesses by the end of the parliament.
Prime Minister David Cameron has announced a change to public procurement rules that will require Whitehall departments to take offers of apprenticeships into account when awarding large government...
As austerity has pushed down on public services, a plethora of risks and uncertainties have popped up in response. A recent Public Finance roundtable debated the issues at stake
With NHS finances under pressure, there is a need for more data, transparency and consistency to fully understand the implications and role of independent providers in the provision of NHS-funded...
A National Audit Office report on open-book accounting creates the opportunity to develop new measures for greater transparency and accountability for outsourced public services