Competition in public services delivery will save money by creating efficiencies – money that can be reinvested in priority programs like health care and education.
Support the Ontario PC Party plan to create competition in public services
Competition in Public Services
Under an Ontario PC Government, public sector unions would compete with private sector unions, businesses and non-profits for government contracts involving the delivery of public services.
The efficiencies that result would be re-invested into front-line services such as health care and education.
Examples of services that could initially be open to a bidding process in Ontario include: building and fleet maintenance, IT services, permit inspections, public transportation, document management and food services.
Key Benefits
Cost savings: Competition encourages would-be service providers to keep costs to a minimum or lose the contract to a more efficient competitor.
Quality improvements: A competitive process encourages bidders to offer the best possible service quality to win out over their rivals.
Improved risk management: Governments are better able to control costs by building cost-containment provisions into contracts.
Innovation: The need for lower-cost, higher-quality services under competition encourages providers to create new, cutting-edge solutions to help win and retain government contracts.
Saving Tax Dollars
Several case studies have shown that competition between public and private sector unions and businesses can net taxpayer savings of between 10 and 30 per cent.
A 2007 study by the San Diego Institute for Policy Research and Reason that estimated average savings from managed competition in the range of 10 to 25 per cent.
A report prepared by Deloitte found that if handled with appropriate oversight, managed competition can translate into savings of between 10 and 30 per cent.
The White Papers
“We are as committed to modernizing our public services as we have ever been. I’m not going to make the mistakes of my predecessors – blocking reform, wasting opportunities and wasting time.”
- David Cameron on the Open Public Services White Paper, The Telegraph, July 11, 2011
“This white paper says loud and clear that it shouldn’t matter if providers are from the state, private or voluntary sector as long as they offer a great service. The old, narrow, closed state monopoly is dead.”
- David Cameron on the Open Public Services White Paper, The Guardian, July 11, 2011
“We are opening public services (to competition) because we believe that giving people more control over the public services they receive, and opening up the delivery of those services to new providers, will lead to better public services for all.”
- from the UK’s Open Public Services White Paper
“We do not have an ideological presumption that only one sector should run services. High-quality services can be provided by the public sector, the voluntary and community sector or the private sector.”
- from the UK’s 2011 Open Public Services White Paper
Tim Hudak on Competition
“If we’re going to pull Ontario out of Dalton McGuinty’s jobs and spending crisis we need to think in innovative new ways.”
“Creating competition in government service delivery can help us break away from hidebound, dated approaches to serving the public. It will also make government more efficient, freeing up savings for the services we all value – such as health care and education.”
“Our plan would encourage public employees to submit bids and compete – to bring private sector competitive pressures and incentives to the public sector.”
“If government workers can do a better job delivering a given service, fine. But there’s only one way to find out – by making them compete.”
Improve Service Delivery
Competition for government contracts between public and private sector unions and businesses will force bidders to innovate, leading to superior public services.
Large Ministries with a big client base, such as Community and Social Services, can focus on priority services while delegating IT management, building maintenance and administrative work to other service providers.
Contracting allows government to obtain staff expertise that they would not normally have in-house, or on an as-needed basis.
Look to the World
Numerous jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom and several American states, currently use a competitive bidding process for the delivery of public services.
A 2010 task force commissioned by New Jersey governor Chris Christie found that competitive sourcing created an array of incentives for performance and results.
Florida used competitive sourcing and other alternative methods more than 130 times between 1999 and 2007, saving more than $500 million
The City of Phoenix, Arizona saved more than $25 million over 10 years by developing a competitive bidding process
Indianapolis saw average cost savings of 25 per cent through the life of a managed competition program in the 1990s
