The Outsourcing Playbook: Central Government Guidance on Outsourcing Decisions and Contracting

The Outsourcing Playbook captures best practices from across government. Set across 12 chapters, the paper highlights the different approaches and new behaviours believed to be required for government outsourcing. It puts forward a new ethos for outsourcing decisions and contracting with private and third sector providers, with recommendations designed to improve government decision making and the quality of contracts placed with industry. The report is underpinned by 11 policy reforms for all central departments, for which the following objectives can be achieved:  

• Getting more projects right from the start
• The development of robust procurement strategies;
• Engagement with healthy markets;
• Contracting with suppliers that want to work with government;
• and preparation for rare occasions when outsourcing goes wrong.