Chris Grayling is in parliament today explaining his complex set of probation reforms to MPs. Never one to shirk a challenge, Grayling plans to: Outsource the bulk of probation services, predominantly to private sector organisations Extend services to those who have served prison sentences of under 12 months, who previously were not monitored post-release...

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Iain Duncan-Smith has urged the wealthy to hand back their benefits. Shadow Secretary of State for Health, Andy Burnham, meanwhile, has re-opened the low pay debate, urging firms to pay staff the ‘living wage’ and suggesting Labour might legislate to end ‘zero hours contracts’, which force employees...

The privatisation of the Royal Mail is progressing steadily. In 2011, the Postal Services Act paved the way for the spin-out. In spring 2012, government took on the Royal Mail’s pension assets and liabilities – previously seen as an obstacle to a commercial sale. And in December, it was suggested that employees might own...

The Work Programme, introduced by the Coalition in the summer of 2011, was meant to be the route to efficient and effective employment services. Under the scheme, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) pays providers of employment services to help the long-term unemployed back to work. Private and voluntary sector companies are paid...

At the time of writing, the election process for police and crime commissioners looks like it has been even less successful than many feared. The turnout, estimated at around 15%, appears to be the lowest ever in a national election. Worse, the fortunes of PCC candidates seem largely to be mirroring the fortunes of...

Whatever happens tomorrow, one thing is certain. England and Wales will end up with 41 PCCs and a new system for setting policing priorities and holding chief constables to account. For some, including many in government, this itself is a success. An important pillar of the Coalition’s programme for government will have been implemented...

The idea of outsourcing reoffending services and increasingly paying providers ‘by results’ is not new. The voluntary sector has provided rehabilitation services for over a century. Private providers have delivered rehabilitation services for decades, both in the UK and internationally. And contracting methods have evolved rapidly over the past twenty years, with the idea...

Sir Hugh Orde, the head of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), described the Coalition Government’s decision to introduce directly elected commissioners as “the biggest changes to our model of policing since 1829”. From 15 November onwards, the new PCCs will hire and fire police chief constables (who continue to manage operations day...

This summer, the Institute warned (again) that civil servants did not always feel well equipped to manage some of the complex contracting arrangements that are now central to many public services. In our report Commissioning for Success we noted that the problem was particularly acute in those departments who were relatively new to the...

The data presented in yesterday’s CBI report on public sector outsourcing is fascinating. On behalf of the CBI, Oxford Economics examined data from a number of government organisations and identified the rough proportions of expenditure on contracts in a range of public services. We find out, for example, that 48% of hospital security spending...