News from the FDA

29 November 2001: Immediate use

Private provision of public services not clear and transparent

The FDA todaycalled on the government to bring more transparency and accountability to theprivate provision of public services. FDA general secretary Jonathan Baume saidthat decisions to use private or voluntary sector providers "oftenappeared to be driven by political considerations, not the merits of thecase".

In evidence tothe House of Commons Public Administration Committee, the FDA outlined seven keyproposals:

All contracts awarded to the private sector should be open to public scrutiny

The National Audit Office (NAO) and Audit Commission should have the right of scrutiny of any tender for public services at any stage

The NAO and Audit Commission should agree methodology and 'value for money' criteria for tendering exercises, which are open to public scrutiny

The future impact of funding services through PPP should be made clearer

The seven (Nolan) principles of public life, freedom of information laws, parliamentary scrutiny and rules over conflicts of interest should apply to all private or voluntary sector providers of public services

Mechanisms to guard against service deterioration, including the ability to end contracts, should be put in place. Service targets should be openly available

Employment terms for staff should be underpinned and subject to equality and diversity commitments

Jonathan Baumesaid:

"Some PPPcontracts will run for up to 30 years. We must not shackle future governmentsor public sector organisations to contracts that have been signed in secret andsubject to no scrutiny or accountability whatsoever.

"There isalso a real danger that in a few year's time departmental budgets will beheavily committed to projects that may not offer particularly good value formoney, with terms which cannot be varied.

"Decisionson spending large sums of public money, not just for today but with commitmentsfor many years into the future, must be open and accountable. It is time the governmentput more substance and less spin on its plans for the private provision ofpublic services before we all pay the cost."

Ends

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Notes for Editors

1. The FDA'sfull evidence to the Public Administration Committee is available here

2. The FDA isthe trade union and professional body representing the UKs 11,000 senior civiland public servants. Our members include Whitehall policy advisors, seniormanagers, tax inspectors, economists, statisticians, accountants, governmentlawyers, crown prosecutors and NHS managers

3. For furtherinformation contact:

Jonathan Baume (general secretary) on 020-7343-1111 or 07976-951191 (mobile)

SimonMoore (chief press officer) on 020-7343-1111 or 07967 484441 (mobile)

FDA 2001