Commercial

Civil servants working in the Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ’s) shared services centres face redundancies and office closures following a seven-year contract to outsource services to Shared Services Connected Limited (SSCL), says Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS). 

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has announced the three private sector companies who have been offered contracts to deliver its £164bn equipment plan. 

John Manzoni, the chief executive of the Major Projects Authority, has been named as the new chief executive of the civil service.

The government is considering extending the Social Value Act to include goods, works, infrastructure and public assets, under a Cabinet Office review.

Senior civil servants often “don’t know what’s going on” with contracts held by their departments and thus spot problems too late, Joshua Reddaway, the National Audit Office’s director for commercial and contracting, has warned.

Members of the public will be able to search the government property portfolio from today, using a new tool that maps all government-held land and buildings.

Speaking to the Financial Times, head of the Major Projects Authority (MPA), John Manzoni, made it clear that the MPA would be taking a careful look at the Ministry of Justice’s probation outsourcing programme.

The government’s chief operating officer Stephen Kelly has today announced he will leave the civil service in November to become the chief executive of business software firm Sage Group.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) “should urgently invest in its operational, technical and commercial skills,” a report by the National Audit Office has found.

The government will commit to buying British food from 2017 under new guidelines encouraging the whole public sector — including schools and hospitals — to do the same, it has been announced today.

Government spending on outsourcing contracts rose by 23% to £1.2bn between 2012 and 2013, bringing the two-year total to £2.3bn, while expenditure in most other sectors fell by between 1% and 20%, according to analysis of public sector transactions carried out by the Institute for Government (IfG).

The Committee for Standards in Public Life has called for new contractual and monitoring arrangements to ensure private providers meet the same ethical standards which apply to civil servants.