News & Views

UK government seeks consultation on Social Value in public procurement

UK govt goes to suppliers, public bodies & others involved in procurement to consult on initial Social Value framework through which govt depts will evaluate bids on themes around; diverse supply chains, skills & employment, inclusion & wellbeing, environmental sustainability, & safe supply chains (source: gov.uk)

12^th March 2019

The OECD's Observatory of Innovation in the Public Sector

Amongst many things, this provides a fascinating global map of innovation in the public sector: SociaLab in Holland looks at ageing populations; Waterdeep in Portugal optimises water consumption; an Open Data Portal in Spain allows citizen analysis of public sector data; E-residency for location-independent businesses in Estonia builds online trust; a Flood Warning system in Finland builds citizen resilience (source: oecd.org)

5^th March 2019

UK Government releases 'The Outsourcing Playbook'

Carillion's collapse provoked a (high-time) outsourcing renaissance to redefine the relationship between supplier & buyer of public services. This 'Playbook' is the charter that sets out key new policies for commercial, finance, & delivery professionals across central govt depts that aim to ensure; projects are comfortable from the start for both sides; robust procurement strategies exist; healthy markets are engaged with; contracts are made with suppliers who want to work with govt; and safety mechanisms are in place for the event of failure (source: gov.uk)

21^st February 2019

Report: Institute for Fiscal Studies publishes outlook for UK Government's 2019 Spending Review

Key findings: Departmental spending for 2018-19 is +£40 billion lower than in 2009-10, roughly at 2006-7 levels; DFID experience an increase of 25%, whilst the MOJ and DEFRA a reduction of 40%; borrowing is back to pre financial crisis levels; the NHS will recieve £20.5bn increase by 2023; disorderly Brexit does not necessarily mean a decrease in govt spending, but will mean slower economic growth (source: ifs.org.uk)

20^th February 2019

Policy: The UK Justice Secretary gives speech on providing a 'smarter' justice system and a shift towards investing in probation services

The Rt Hon David Gauke questioned the effectiveness of 6 month sentencing over using more modern tech-based interventions in the community (source: gov.uk)

18^th February 2019

Blog: Bringing local agencies to work together for shared outcomes

How local agencies can work together to reduce harm and vulnerability in communities

7^th February 2019

Innovation: The German Public Value Atlas develops a framework for measuring Social Value

Can other governments look to German private sector best practice for how the public purchase of services could measure Social Value? (source: gemeinwohlatlas.de).

1^st February 2019

Public Policy: The UK govt announced in November 2018 it will now measure & evaluate Social Value in its procurement of public services, yet Social Value remains undefined

It is one thing to demonstrate Social Value qualitatively. But how should it get measured in competitive environments? Should governments look to develop metrics for Social Value so they can rank the competition? (source: gov.uk)

1^st February 2019

Opinion: Food for thought from Arup on what Social Value could mean

In light of the government’s move to evaluate ‘Social Value’ in procurement of public services, the public sector can look to businesses that literally build societal and economic benefit through design (source: newcivilengineer.com)

1^st February 2019

News: Rupert Soames OBE gives speech introducing the Serco Institute

The purpose of the Institute is to be a forum where academics, civil servants, practitioners, companies small, medium and large, including our competitors, both in this country and abroad, can contribute their ideas.

10^th January 2019

News: Dubai breaks boundaries with truly joined up service delivery expos

City Makers in Dubai conduct hackathon style innovation sessions by bringing together multi-agency professionals to work on shared goals (source: apolitical.co)

9^th January 2019

Report: Institute for Government on the UK's outsourcing landscape in 2018

Institute for Government's first in a series of reports on the outsourcing landscape in the UK. Their key facts: £284bn spent 2017/18 by government on procurement of services from external suppliers (1/3 public expenditure); 28% (& increasing) of central government budget (£178bn); 47% (& declining) of local government (£98bn); overall this is not as much as other OECD countries; but poor quality of procurement data restricts analysis (source: instituteforgovernment.org.uk)

13^th December 2018

Serco Institute and Reform public service debate in Westminster

Watch panel 2 of our event 'Alternative models of service delivery' with speakers Sir Bernard Jenkin MP, Professor Jo Pritchard, Rob Pollock and Rob Owen (source: twitter.com/reformthinktank)

12^th December 2018

Serco Institute and Reform public service debate in Westminster

Watch panel 1 of our event 'Data and digital rich frontline public service' with speakers George Freeman MP, Nico Henke, Devika Wood and Lisa Barrett (source: twitter.com/reformthinktank)

12^th December 2018

Rethinking the market for complex public services

(source: Gary L Sturgess)

10^th December 2018

US Social Security Act sets up Innovation Center for Medicare & Medicaid programs

Testing models that improve care, lower costs, and performance based payment systems (source: innovation.cms.gov)

10^th December 2018

US Dept for Homeland Security sets up Procurement Innovation Lab

PIL provides safe space to test new ideas to improve efficiency & effectiveness of procurement (source: dhs.gov)

10^th December 2018

Dubai Future Foundation on most impactful technologies affecting seven sectors in the UAE

Foresight on tech, water, space, education, health, energy, and how UAE govts support innovation to build cities of the future (source: duabifuture.gov.ae)

10^th December 2018

When does government outsourcing work?

(source: instituteforgovernment.org.uk)

10^th December 2018

Bettering procurement

Rupert Soames (source: serco.com)

7^th December 2018

Innovation News: Algorithms distort justice in the US

Algorithms are being used in the state and federal criminal justice system in the US to set bail & determine sentences more efficiently, but they are at danger of distorting justice (source: epic.org)

4^th December 2018

Policy News: UK Govt Minister calls for AI in all departments

Margot James, UK Minister of State for Creative and Digital Industries speaks of bringing ‘the vanguard’ of AI into government Departments (source: gov.uk)

27^th November 2018

Innovation News: Singapore govt looks to agile innovation methods

Singapore uses ‘Public Service Innovation Challenges’ and ‘Makeathons’ for government agency Directors to address & respond to key public sector priorities that cut across agency boundaries (source: govinsider.asia)

22^nd November 2018

Innovation news: Canadian defence department looks to 'open innovation' and Challenge Prizes

Through setting specific Challenges, IDEaS aims to connect innovators with the government’s science and military members (source: canada.ca)

19^th November 2018

Innovation News: U.S use of algorithms to deliver criminal justice is dangerous

World Economic Forum warns of increased use of AI in predicting crime in the US, stating that algorithms reinforce racial bias (source: weforum.org)

19^th November 2018

Innovation news: Northern England cities lead way on smart city development

City of Hull in the UK, sprints ahead in building smart city data platform that allows tech innovators to plug in to local public services (source: eandt.theiet.org)

15^th November 2018

News: UK govt backs centre to develop Public Service leaders

UK government proposes plan for new Centre for Public Services Leadership to focus on developing collaborative leadership skills that drive productivity and innovation across services. (source: civilserviceworld.com)

31^st October 2018

Report: World Bank on lessons from developing world on improving public sector performance

Long report from World Bank giving global view on what drives & enables innovation in public sector performance across developing world (source: worldbank.org)

1^st October 2018

New thinking: Principles on how to better govern public services in the UK

Serco plc, sets out Four Principles to ensure the contractual relationships between commissioner and provider is governed better through Transparency, Orderly Exit, Security of Supply and Fairness

20^th June 2018

Blog: Innovation in the public sector is challenging

Innovation in the B2C and B2B spheres has been prolific, whilst the environment of the public sector holds back innovation at scale - we need to trial and test change free from these restrictions. (source: Clementine Vandeleur, Serco Institute)

3^rd December 2017