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Cleaning is another example of a non-core service that has been opened to private provision in many parts of the world. In some sectors, such as schools and office buildings, early controversy has largely faded away, but in other sector, such as public hospitals in the UK, controversy continues.
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| Hospital Contract Cleaning And Infection Control (PDF) |
| Davies, Steve , 2005 |
| Commissioned by UNISON |
| This paper brings together infection control in hospitals and the contracting-out of public services, and argues that such a link exists and that the standards of hospital cleaning have declined. In examining the regime of competitive tendering, the report argues that cleaning standards have fallen as a direct result of contracting out. It concludes that there should be an end to tendering regimes that put cost ahead of quality, and that the economic cost of infection and infection control should inform decisions for resource allocation of cleaning. |
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| UK |
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| Hospital Cleaning (PDF) |
| Audit Scotland, 2003 |
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| This is the Executive Summary to a follow-up report measuring progress in Scotland on hospital cleanliness rates since the 'A clean bill of health' publication. |
| ISBN 1 903433 92 4 |
| UK |
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| Contracting Out as a Form of Privatisation: A Study of Victorian Local Government |
| Rimmer, Stephen , 1998 |
| Australian Chamber of Commerce |
| Case studies on cleaning services from 13 local governments in Victoria
Research Paper No. 1, Canberra |
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| Australia |
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| Contracting Out Building Cleaning Services at the National Hospital of Denmark |
| Jensen, Wayne , 1997 |
| Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) |
| This four-page paper outlines the contracting out of cleaning services in Denmark’s National Hospital in 1992. It is primarily a policy brief, outlining the government policy, contract history and contractual details, but also offers specifics on bid levels and cost-savings. The winning bid for the four-year contract was that of a private company, over 43% cheaper than the in-house bid from the team that had previously been providing the service. During the contract life, monitoring showed that quality of service had improved. |
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| Denmark |
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| Government Cleaning Service: Reforming Business in New South Wales |
| Jensen, Paul & Liebenberg, Barbara , 1995 |
| (eds.) Domberger, Simon and Hall, Christine, The Contracting Casebook: Competitive Tendering in Action, Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service, pp.13-31 |
| This case study looks at the reform of the Government Cleaning Services and its implications. The reform process was made challenging because of certain legal, political, economic and industrial complexities. Part of the tendering process involved restructuring of the service. Productivity improvements were made through changes in work practice, the introduction of new equipment and the removal of restrictive practises. |
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| Australia |
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| Competitive Tendering for Domestic Services: A Comparative Study of Three Hospitals in New South Wales |
| Hall, Christine with Domberger, Simon , 1995 |
| Domberger, Simon & Hall, Christine (eds), Australian Government Publishing Service, pp.99-136. First published as ‘Competitive Tendering for Domestic Services: A Comparative Study of Three Hospitals in NSW’, Graduate School of Business, University of Sydney, 1992. |
| This study examines three case studies of cleaning services in New South Wales hospitals following the introduction of competitive tendering pilot projects in 1989-1990. The tendering process, winning bid and contract outcome are examined in each case. In Hospital A, the in-house team won the bid and provided an improved service 20.8% cheaper than previously. In Hospital B, an outside firm won but also provided an improved service at significantly lower cost - 29.7% in this case. In Hospital C, however, the results were not so impressive – an outside contractor won with the lowest bid, promising big cost-savings, but the quality of service deteriorated to such an extent that the contract was terminated. More broadly, in the period 1989-1992 saw a 13.2% reduction in expenditure on hotel services in NSW. |
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| Australia |
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| Tender Business: Contracting of Grounds Maintenance in the City of Bendigo |
| Kwan, Ian with Domberger, Simon, 1995 |
| (eds.) Domberger, Simon and Hall, Christine (eds), The Contracting Casebook: Competitive Tendering in Action, Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service, pp.169-181 |
| A case study that examines the contracting of grass-cutting in Bendigo, rural Victoria, following the introduction of Compulsory Competitive Tendering. The contractor’s bid was estimated as providing a cost reduction of around 18%. The company was small and bid competitively, but made a loss due to drought, a risk the contractor was forced to accept. |
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| Australia |
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| The Determinants of Price and Quality in Competitively Tendered Contracts |
| Domberger, S.; Hall, C. & Li, E. , 1995 |
| The Economic Journal 105(433), pp.1454-1470 |
| This is a study testing for the effect of competitive tendering on the price and ex-post quality of 61 cleaning contracts (22 office, 7 hospital and 32 school) in the Sydney Metropolitan region. In general, tendering led to lower prices and higher quality although not all results were found to be significant. Taking into account the hospital results it was tentatively suggested that competition not ownership is important in reducing prices. More importantly the quality shading hypothesis is rejected on the basis of lower prices provided by competitively tendered contracts with generally higher levels of cleaning performance. |
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| Australia |
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| Competitive Tendering in UK Health and Local Authorities: What Happens to the Quality of Services? |
| McMaster, Robert , 1995 |
| Scottish Journal of Political Economy, 42(4), pp.409-427 |
| This is a survey of 21 health and local authorities, principally in relation to cleaning, catering and maintenance, with particular reference to quality. |
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| UK |
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| The New Services: Contract Cleaning and Catering |
| Fielder, Sarah; Rees, Gareth and Rees, Teresa , 1991 |
| Social Research Unit, School of Social & Administrative Studies, University of Wales, Project Paper No.5 |
| Case studies on two large contract and cleaning organisations in South Wales, with particular focus on restructuring and employment change |
| ISBN 0948935715 |
| UK |
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| Too High a Price to Pay? A Study of Competitive Tendering for Domestic Services in the NHS |
| Bach, Stephen , 1989 |
| Warwick Papers in Industrial Relations, No.25, Industrial Relations Research Unit, University of Warwick |
| This paper is a detailed case study of the impact of competitive tendering for domestic services in one English health authority. It reports that following tender standards dropped dramatically with an associated increase in risks and costs for patients. The service was then returned in-house, but not without lasting damage to the moral and strucutre of staff. |
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| UK |
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| Competitive Tendering for Support Services in the National Health Service |
| National Audit Office, 1987 |
| The Stationery Office |
| In September 1983 the UK departments of health published guidance asking health authorities to test the cost effectiveness of three support services – domestic, catering and laundry – by subjecting the award of contracts for these services to competitive tender. This report presents the results of a NAO examination of the progress made in meeting the target of completing all competitive tendering programmes by 1986. Success in the tendering process is mixed, but where tendering has been achieved cost-reductions of around 20% are reported by both public and private sector providers. |
| ISBN 0 10 231887 5 |
| UK |
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| Delivering Municipal Services Efficiently: A Comparison of Municipal and Private Service Delivery |
| Stevens, B.J. , 1984 |
| U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development |
| Various services from eight cities in the Los Angeles district, including janitorial services, turf management and street tree maintenance |
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| USA |
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