1. Conclusion: The government will not achieve value for money from its contracts until it pays much more attention to contract management
2. Recommendation: The Cabinet Office must lead efforts to make sure that the current emphasis on improving contract management is embedded across all departments and that tendering processes did not discriminate against small and medium sized enterprises. It must not lose focus and should report back to this Committee by the end of 2015 on the progress made in implementing reforms across government
3. Recommendation: Accounting Officers remain accountable for spending throughout the life of contracts. They should put in place an accountability framework for contracts which specifies how senior oversight of major contracts should work in practice - including the information needed to scrutinise and challenge contractor performance, cost and progress in making further savings-and the personal responsibilities of senior managers, with appropriate sanctions and rewards for performance.
4. Recommendation: We welcome progress to improve the government's commercial and contract management skills, but this needs to be supported by concerted Cabinet Office action in two areas: to increase the attractiveness of careers in commercial disciplines including pay, status and career development; and do more to raise the commercial awareness of operational managers so they can work with the commercial professionals to achieve value for money throughout the life of contracts.
5. Recommendation: Alongside the Cabinet Office reporting back to us at the end of 2015, both the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office should report back to us specifically on progress with their contract management improvement plans:
. For the Ministry we will be particularly interested in arrangements for running the 'Transforming Rehabilitation' contracts (for outsourcing probation services) which we see as a litmus test for better management of high risk and complex contracts.
. For the Home Office we will be particularly interested in what it has done to extend improvement plans beyond its commercial directorate and into the operational management of contracts.
Contractor's duty of care to the taxpayer
6. Conclusion: Contractors have not shown an appropriate duty of care to the taxpayer and users of public services.
7. Recommendation: The Cabinet Office should work with industry to define what obligations a duty of care should entail, what sanctions would apply should performance fall short, and require senior executives to attest annually to the strength of their internal controls over public contracts and to be personally accountable to parliament for performance.
8. Recommendation: The 'corporate renewal' process is a new concept for many. The Cabinet Office and HM Treasury should publish a review of this process and its outcome, and, when disseminating findings, make clear to all departments what it expects them to do differently and what different behaviours departments should expect from the contractors.