Transparent and open deals between governments and the private sector could build trust with citizens, and mean better value for money
Government contractor Serco, which works in sectors from defence and security to health and education, saw its share price fall 30% in November after a profit warning. It has been losing money on $1.5bn worth of contracts with governments around the world. It has also found itself in trouble with UK authorities for charging for supervision services for dead prisoners. The company is a poster child for what can go wrong when governments contract out - and the huge scale of that contracting.
Governments routinely sign multibillion-dollar contracts for infrastructure and services alongside agreements over the use of public property such as oil or gas deposits. The Development Gateway Market, which registers a small proportion of global government tenders for goods and services, adds as many as 32,000 tenders a week. However, usually, the resulting contracts remain locked in a cabinet, known only to a few government officials and company employees. That's an unnecessary limit on freedom of information: citizens have the right to know what the government is signing on their behalf. But it is also a real loss to efficient government.
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