What will the budget mean for outsourcing?
The National Outsourcing Association suggests areas it would like to see covered in the Chancellor’s budget.
Martyn Hart, the National Outsourcing Association (NOA), commented:
“In the wake of the government’s Spending Review last year, the Chancellor’s budget will provide an early opportunity to gauge how successful it has been, and which areas will need to tighten their belts as a result. The outsourcing industry is one which seems poised to benefit more than most, but there are still a number of areas which the NOA would like to see the Chancellor supporting in his announcement.
“Perhaps one of the areas where we could see an increase in funding is training. The government’s recent focus on encouraging smaller businesses to bid for public sector contracts, means that we are likely to see a rise in multi-sourcing in the public sector, with a number of smaller suppliers providing a range of different services, instead of just one large single source supplier.
“But how well equipped is the public sector to manage multi-sourcing contracts? Very few workers in the public sector will have any experience of how to manage a number of different suppliers effectively, so perhaps we’ll see the Chancellor setting aside some of the budget towards training public sector workers in this respect? They might even feel that it would a good idea to expand this investment in training so that it includes smaller enterprises, who have no real experience in dealing with contracts.
“In recent weeks, we’ve seen the Prime Minister attacking what he calls the ‘enemies of enterprise’ and pledging to support British entrepreneurs as part of his plan to back small firms. Perhaps, however, the best way he could demonstrate this commitment to enterprise is to introduce incentives to smaller organisations looking to bid, perhaps by making the bidding process itself tax deductible?
“The NOA would also like to see the government investing in a means of measuring the performance of outsourcing suppliers, to ensure that the best providers are used, rather than just those capable of providing every service as part of a big contract. The government could use the budget to announce a new initiative aimed at kitemarking the performance of suppliers, with the best, most suitable performing suppliers receiving a green kitemark.”
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