§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what estimates his Department has made of the cumulative savings which have resulted from compulsory competitive tendering. [235]
§ Mr. RaynsfordResearch commissioned by the Department identified savings alongside changes to the quality of local services. It shows average annual savings on contract prices of blue-collar services of 6 per cent. for the first round of tendering under the Local Government Act 1988, and 9 per cent. for the second round. The research also indicates that these savings have been accompanied by only minor improvements in service standards, and that more attention needs to be given to the development of local performance indicators.
Other research, commissioned outside the Department, suggests a wide variation in estimates of savings depending upon the way in which social costs and benefits are treated.