Public open markets are private closed shops

Posted by Richard Johnson on September 1, 2014 · 2 Comments 

Is a Social Serco possible? Challenging the public sector monopoly on some public services has the potential to deliver better social impact. However, the difficulty in opening a public sector market to competition from other sectors is that market making is an inherent feature of the private sector. Public and third sectors, apparently, are not … Continue reading →

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The Serco smoke screen

Posted by Richard Johnson on July 8, 2014 · Leave a Comment 

We must be careful that the corporate failures of the big outsourcers in the UK, such as Serco and G4S, do not become a smoke screen behind which failures of the commissioners are forgotten. Media coverage this week of Serco’s failure to hold on to their £600m Docklands Light Railway (DLR) contract has focused on … Continue reading →

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Competition killed the cat

Posted by Richard Johnson on November 4, 2013 · 3 Comments 

Rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic On Friday 25th October, Serco announced that its Chief Executive, Chris Hyman, had fallen on his sword. Earlier that week, the CEO of G4S in the UK departed. A few weeks earlier, the CEO of Serco UK mysteriously disappeared. This is in order to provide the government (and particularly … Continue reading →

Filed under Contract design, Contract management, Ministry of Justice, Outsourcing, Service design, Value for money · Tagged with , , , , , , ,