The incentive to innovate in order to increase efficiency, improve service outcomes and lead the market at the next tender drives service providers to develop cutting edge solutions. The best opportunity for this comes when operational experts are involved from the outset, leading the project to design and build the facility that they will subsequently operate.
Most of those interviewed for this research said that they would be less interested in delivering services such as cleaning and catering in isolation, rather than as part of a broader project. They felt that by involving the service provider throughout the project, services are accorded greater value. There is more scope to develop innovative solutions, because the operational experts have a say in the design of the building and in ensuring that it is ft for purpose, and (if contracting is done well) the risk lies with the party best able to manage it.
It is by developing design-solutions that deliver the best possible outcomes that service companies differentiate themselves and create world-beating products. One interviewee said that in quieter periods between different projects, individuals from their business division travel the world looking for ideas and insights that will help them to give their next solution an edge. A colleague elaborated:
"We think outside the box and we're open to new ideas. We look at the service and think about what we can do with the design of the building to make the service as efficient and effective as possible - and that includes everything from the layout, to the fabric of the building, to the technology that's in the building, and the way we manage the service."
In a separate interview, another participant described the optimum start point for designing a public service facility, under the ideal conditions of a Greenfield site and a flexible specification:
"You start with a clean sheet of paper and you draw a perimeter [that represents the site]. Then you think about how the service will look, how people will need to move around the site - and that will vary for different facilities - and then you take it from there..."
The 'clean sheet' described in this example is a key part of what makes a service-led solution effective. The testimonies in this report show that physical facilities are not the starting point in a PPP project that is concerned with the delivery of better services. The starting point is the service. The physical asset flows from that, and is designed, in direct collaboration with service experts, specifically to underpin the delivery of that individual service. This approach increases the potential for service innovation.
There is growing interest within the UK government in using public sector procurement to drive innovation. The starting point for such a project must be to promote innovation in the delivery of public services. In order to achieve such an outcome, government must ensure that those who will bear the risks associated with service delivery have a role at the heart of the design process.
The Serco Institute was established in 1994 by the international services company Serco Group plc, to undertake practical research into public service contracting and the design and management of public service markets.