What's New?
On this page we post the latest Institute research and opinion.
Managing for Outcomes: Public Services for the People (Please note: this link will open the page in a new browser window)
Speech to the Committee for the Economic Development of Australia
Delivered by Gary Sturgess, Executive Director, The Serco Institute
Sydney, Australia, 6th August 2009
'Good News from Industry, Bad News from Sales': Liberalising the Public Service Economy (Please note: this link will open the page in a new browser window)
Speech to 'Partnerships '09' Infrastructure and Investment Conference
Delivered by Gary Sturgess, Executive Director, The Serco Institute
Sydney, Australia, 7th August 2009
Big Numbers Win Prizes: Twenty-one ways to inflate toll road traffic and revenue forecasts (Please note: this link will open the page in a new browser window)
Bain, Robert
Project Finance International, 8 April 2009, pp 47-52
Investor-financed toll road projects can fail when actual revenue fails to achieve targets set by inflated traffic forecasts. This is down to incentives created by the competition framework which reward overambitious bidding strategies and the ability to raise significant quantities of debt based on strong projections of demand. The article identifies and analyses the tell-tale signs of this optimism bias. It is an abridged extract from the author's book Toll Road Traffic & Revenue Forecasts: An Interpreter's Guide (ISBN: 978-0-9561527-1-8).
Using Competition and Contracting to Improve Prison Performance (Please note: this link will open the page in a new browser window)
Speech to International Corrections and Prisons Association Conference
Delivered by Gary Sturgess, Executive Director, The Serco Institute
Prague, Czech Republic, 26 October 2008
Making Time: Freeing Up Front-Line Policing (Please note: this link will open the page in a new browser window)
Sotiropoulos, Alexis 2008
The Serco Institute
Freeing up our front-line public servants from time-consuming administration is one of the keys to improving value-for-money. Nowhere is this more important than in the complex task of policing our communities and responding to crime. This report brings to light UK police forces' achievements in shifting resources from the back-office to the front-line, increasing their visibility and providing greater public reassurance.
Estimation Bias in Public Infrastructure Projects (Please note: this link will open the page in a new browser window)
Fitzgerald, John
Masters Thesis in Public Infrastructure, University of Melbourne, 2008
A comparative analysis of approaches to risk allocation in Australian PPPs and traditional procurements. It draws on emerging data from a national benchmarking study of major projects which was begun in 2006.
To Guide the Human Puppet: Behavioural Economics, Public Policy and Public Service Contracting (Please note: this link will open the page in a new browser window)
Cumming, Lauren, 2008
Serco Institute
Institute Discussion Paper No. 3: Behavioural economics is the latest fashion in political circles. This paper critically analyses the application of behavioural economics to policy design and its relevance to public service contracting...
Video: Public services industry comes of age (Please note: this link will open a page with video content)
Interview with Gary L Sturgess, Executive Director, Serco Institute
London, UK, July 2008
Open for business? How Australia can build on its untold public services success story
Gary Sturgess
Australian Financial Review - July 2008
(Please note: this link will open the page in a new browser window)
Australia's public services industry is one of its great untold success stories. In this article Institute Executive Director Gary Sturgess outlines how Australia can reap great benefits if business and government rethink the private sector's role in public services.... This article first appeared in the AFR on 11th July 2008.
Customer Service in the Delivery of Public Services: International Experience (Please note: this link will open the page in a new browser window)
The Serco Institute; 2008
Efficiency Unit, Government of Hong Kong SAR
As the citizens of developed countries have become more demanding about the public services they receive, governments have become more attuned to they way they are delivered. This report surveys the use of customer service techniques by public service providers around the world. It looks at how user experience can be enhanced through personalisation, better feedback mechanisms and the implementation of improved technologies.
Competition and Contracting: Learning from Past Experience (Please note: this link will open the page in a new browser window)
The Serco Institute; 2008
Efficiency Unit, Government of Hong Kong SAR
Governments have often failed to learn from past mistakes when contracting-out their services. This review of almost 50 studies, spanning three decades, brings together a wide range of 'exemplary failures' under the main issues that affect outsourcing.
Public Sector Reform: An International Overview (Please note: this link will open the page in a new browser window)
The Serco Institute; 2007
Efficiency Unit, Government of Hong Kong SAR
This report examines recent international trends which have impacted on the formulation and delivery of public services. These have included innovations in public engagement, performance management regimes and private sector involvement. Governments have also benefited from becoming more customer focused yet outcome oriented.