Transforming management contract: Chair's statement
4 September 2014
A statement from The Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MP, Chair of the Committee of Public Accounts:
"The discovery that G4S and Serco had massively over-charged the Ministry of Justice on public service contracts was an urgent wake-up call for the government's disastrous contract management.
More and more of our public services are now being delivered by private companies, who between them received a huge £40 billion last year from contracts funded by the British taxpayer. These companies must be held to the same high standards as any government department, so that the public can have confidence that they are delivering the quality of service we are entitled to expect.
I am dismayed that government has got itself into the position where its response to overbilling by G4S and Serco has been constrained because the companies are now too big to fail.
I acknowledge that the Cabinet Office and some departments have started to make progress in improving contract management, but much more still needs to be done across government. Not all senior civil servants have taken these contracts seriously, with data to monitor and understand performance still not good enough because departments think their responsibility ends once a contract is signed.
With so much taxpayers' money at stake, departments must urgently put an end to the 'out of sight, out of mind' mentality that has led them to be in this weakened position before even more taxpayers' money is wasted.
We will be taking evidence on this in the next few weeks and I will expect officials to demonstrate that real progress is being made to protect the interests of taxpayers and those who rely on our public services."