The collapse of a contract worth £800m to provide adult community health services for people in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough was rushed into with ‘gross irresponsibility’ and could lead to patient...
Local authorities’ “opaque and often ideological” resistance to outsourcing children’s services can be counter-productive to improving outcomes for young people, according to...
Arts and culture are often early victims of council cuts. However, many authorities are now wising up to the fact that cultural activities can be sound investments, bringing economic benefits and...
Setting up a trading company to provide services is one way to reduce costs, and several matters need to be considered to ensure your company is viable and a success
Many PFI contracts are trapped in their current terms out of fear of the costs of change and a desire not to show weakness to the other side. But this is not sustainable in the face of increasing...
Business and energy secretary Greg Clark has announced a fresh government review of the project to build the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station, postponing the signing of contracts that was set to...
There needs to be a “step change” in the way the civil service does business in the wake of Brexit and other challenges, the comptroller and auditor general has said.
It is vital that government and local commissioners ensure a level playing field and better quality in the commissioning and procurement of public services
Shared services are a popular reform for public agencies under financial pressure. The hope is to reduce overheads and increase efficiency by consolidating support services like HR, finance and...
Three quarters of English councils have failed to find procurement savings following the launch of the National Procurement Strategy for local government, according to research.
The cost of fraud is far higher than previous estimates, and procurement accounts for most of this. With cuts to internal audit and procurement teams focused on savings, local authorities need all...
David Cameron has highlighted the importance of transparency in the public sector. A new standard contract for Whitehall outsourcing could help provide more information across services
Brexit campaigners have warned that Britain’s contributions to the European Union will increase if the country votes to stay in the bloc later this month.
Under EU rules, certain public sector contracts have to be advertised across Europe, although there is flexibility to give local providers an advantage. Would Brexit change how procurement is carried...
Government efforts to spend more money through small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have lost momentum and cannot be reliably measured, the Public Accounts Committee has found.
The Single Source Regulations Office has removed £1.27m from the costs engines manufacturer Rolls Royce may charge the Ministry of Defence for Hawk jet engines.
In May 2014, the Defence Reform Act passed into law and ushered in radical changes in defence procurement. Two years on, are there lessons to learn for other areas of taxpayer-funded purchasing?
Devolution could free local authorities to develop early intervention and prevention services that make greater use of social investment, a senior third sector figure has told Public Finance.
EU procurement rules often get bad press but they have not yet had a high profile in the UK referendum debate on membership. But they lie at the heart of the internal market and often have a big...
