Is outsourcing working?
The Government spends £284bn on private companies, charities and voluntary organisations which deliver goods, frontline public services and back-offic
The Government spends £284bn on private companies, charities and voluntary organisations which deliver goods, frontline public services and back-office support. The UK pioneered the outsourcing of public services, but recent failures in probation and prisons, alongside profit warnings from suppliers, have renewed debate over outsourcing.
At this event, leading politicians, experts and practitioners debated what has and hasn’t worked in government outsourcing, setting out the evidence on where it has reduced costs or delivered innovation; where it did not achieve the expected results; and what its future holds.
Our panel included:
- Sam Gyimah MP, former Minister of State for Universities and Science and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Prisons and Probation
- Chris Matheson MP, Labour Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office
- Matthew Fell, UK Policy Director, Confederation of British Industry
- John Tizard, independent strategic advisor; former Director of Government and Business Engagement at Capita and joint leader of Bedfordshire County Council
- Katja Hall, Corporate Affairs Director, Capita
- Alan White, News Editor, BuzzFeed News, and author of Shadow State: Inside the Secret Companies that Run Britain.
The debate was moderated by Emma Norris, Director of Research, Institute for Government.
This event was kindly supported by international law firm Gowling WLG.
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