The National Health Service (NHS) and the UK’s Prison service report on and manage financial performance through numerous reports published for example the UK’s prison service creates a quarterly report, the last quarterly report was produced on the 31st of January 2019 budgets created by these reports are based on internal and external audit committees, an internal audit is performed by a separate auditing body within an organisation to heighten the validity of the report whereas Internal audits are performed by an independent body to also further increase the validity of the organisation, this is then put under financial scrutiny by the government and the relevant governing body to determine a budget for the next annual year to allocate different sector funding, when this is produced there are different accountability methods, population accountability which is collective or collaborative responsibility, and performance accountability which is the responsibility of a project, the importance of accountability when reviewing a public financial report is due to the funding which may be needed for the next quarterly report the government and the home office and the Sectary of State for the Home Department analysis this before is laid upon the House of Commons Under section 46 of the Police Act of 1996, the Freedom Information Act of 2000 allows the public to see the report. Local reports account for the basis on a national level for example The Swindon Borough Council 2018 report, the Home sectary will analyse the report and then base funding and grants off this on a national level. The funding which is under the financial report is based on performance measures so if performance is still high and the prison service have performed well with the governments previous budget then the budget may be decreased to increase competitiveness within the service, the NHS is currently under financial strain as shown in the 2018 financial report by NHS England published on the 27th of June 2017 and updated on the 31st of January 2019 meaning the government will have to create cuts through side budgeting to create affordability through Procurement and open auctioning to try and increase performance measurements . NHS England are to allow flexibility through the difficult financial environment seen in the NHS, with the 2017-2019 financial report presenting a funding allocation of £110bn through 207 different clinical commissioning groups, with current NHS spending £105bn of total commissioning expenditure. Efficiency and effectiveness are measured through different aspects, comprehensiveness is one of the measures this is where all revenue and expenditure which looks at all cost centres, accuracy is also measured, this is usually a record of accountancy for example the Prison services annual report of 2019 and the NHS financial report of December 2018; another factor effecting this is annually, this is an annual report which may be produced, this can be used to assign budgets for the next financial year, this can allow their to be a forecast for the next annual year through spending reports . Authorativness is an amount which is allowed through law, this is usually laid in front of the house of commons which is voted on upon Section 46 of the police Act 1996, transparency this is through the Freedom of Information Act 2000 which allows transparency of sector finances to the public, this allows sectors to see public reactions to the amount being spent as the majority of spending is through taxes paid by the public. To reduce this the government makes cuts in the budget through the privatisation of certain aspects of the public services for example the government has now made the Helicopters for search and Rescue operations joint with the NHS this is called a public finance imitative where a public initiative is financed to allow there to be less expenditure allowing more funding to go to areas which need it such as the implementation of pre diagnostics, the government has also allocated specific funding to regional hospitals for example Great Western Hospital 2018 reports that it is now a regional hospital specialising in certain procedures to allow for performance levels to increase under a very strict budget with the UK Public procurement 2018 report is over £175bn per annum which account for 13% of the UK’s GDP, an example of a national level spending is through Swindon County Council which the 2018 report spends £300m per year through different goods and services and it has been shown that from 2019-2020 Swindon Borough council will need to cut spending by £82m through the current spending review to allow the government to allocate funding in different public sectors. The NHS Performance report of 2017-2018, shows that even with the cuts in spending the NHS has performed well since the 2008 economic crash with the NHS operating on £27bn less than it has aimed to have been through the increase in demand, new outpatient referrals have fell by 1.6% due to the efficiency of GP’s finding alternatives to sending patients to the hospital and the implementation of the NHS 111 line has increase to this has allowed there to be a further increase in efficiency within the NHS this is all through the NHS reform programme, there are 12.5m individuals who are covered by primary care this has further allowed GP’s and care assistants to work more closely together with overall 12% fewer people are admitted to hospital compared to five years ago. The NHS are perfroming well with the relevant funding they have especially with the ausdterity budget currently in place with £20bn in extra funding for the NHS with the goverment estimating an encrease in spednign by £7-£27bn per year. So overall both efficencies from the prison service and the NHS are both under financial constraint however underfunding is previllant in both areas from side budgeting and a governemnt based budget both public services are efficent and effective, and the NHS has an average wait time of 18 weeks from the day of your appointment for a non amergency however The Swindon Advertiser published on the 15th of decmber 2018 by Tom Seaward has reported a total of 97.7% of beds at Great Western Hospital are occupied leading to an effect in efficency but effectivness is high especially with the implementation of pre diognostics such as the breast screening vehicles, the prison service is also effective, with the quaterly report showing effectibness from 2017-2018 presented to the House of Commons pursuant to Section seven of the Governemtn Resources and Accounts Act 2000 ordered Bby the House of Commons to be published on the 28th of June 2018, shows that with the implementation of £100m enabled the recruitment of 2,500 recruits, allowing the prison service to be more effctive with the management of 88,000 prisoners with numbers still encreasing pecurement was used to also encrease the effetivness within the prison service with the rising numbers of prisoners with prioners doubeling since 1993, their has been a private partnership with the opening of HMP Berwyn in North Wales encreasing efficency ad effectivness through the encrease of prisoners showing that the prsion service is ring to the demand of space. The deifntion of percurement defined by Collins dictionary published by HarperCollins Publishers is the “Act of obtaining or buying goods and services”, this then untlatutly effects a countries GDP, procurement has a tregulatory frame work. Figure 1 shows the regulatory framwork produced by the EU. Procurement is the obtaining of goods through means which are necessary so a specific council might outsource to private company as Public Private Partnership (PPP), alternatively a public finance initiatives (PFI) is used; a PPP was widely seen throughout the outsourcing of projects through the Governments use of , however these do come with risks as Coronium has not been dissolved leaving production of new medical centres and hospitals on hold following a governmental standstill with development. Procurement was further reasearched By Carol Golstone Asooc
iates with Janet Lewis and Ceridwen Roberts published June 2011, further reaeearched how pecurment is used in central government andd overal found that if frameworkds are used correctly then pecurment is very effective. However found that smaller networks where under a disadvantage from the framework as the ammount of work in large Procurement allows the government to create budgets and side budgets through the implementation of procurement in funding for different public and private sector finances, this may change through the Austerity Budget, the Austerity budget reported by the BBC article named “Austerity” published on the 28th of February 2019, this has led to an increase in Council Taxes Nationwide to end the UK’s austerity for example the BBC reports Blackpool council tax will increase by 2.99%, austerity is the aim to reduce government budget deficits which is currently impacting the UK and the public services within the UK, Imogen Groome From the Metro article “Austerity” published on Wednesday 28th of June 2017, allows an outlook on austerity and what it means with the UK with basis of austerity meaning that the government has spent more than what is received in taxes, this then forms certain Council budgets Nationally. The government sets a budget for a specific council too allow certain spending the council can then outsource this to a specific Private company an example of this is the current Swindon Snow Zone development as reported on by Ian Brown on the 28th of November 2018 showed a voting upon by Swindon Borough council through the MP’s and has now been approved through the development this has now been outsourced to a private company called Seven Capital which is a £250m pound development. The UK’s overall procurement is £175bn which accounts for 13% of the UK’s GDP, with Swindon Council spending £300m with the NHS Swindon Procurement Partnership spend on average £250m on goods and services annually. Through strategic decision making procurement can be checked through the eligibility criterial so the government will look at the risk taking and what the competitors are and the turnover of the potential investment, when the government looks at what competitors are offering their will be different types of agreements, these can include in house bidding and service level agreement, this can lead to an Invitation to tender, this is a procedure where competing bidders look to gather an award of business. An example of this includes the “Procurement for prison education dynamic purchasing system”. Good practice methods of Procurement such as The Procurement for prison education dynamic purchasing system as shown in the Governments article “Procurement” Published by the Ministry of Defence on the 21st of January 2019, was a framework for education within the prison system, the aim of this system was to improve the quality within the education inside prisons in the UK, this was a government push to allow rehabilitation to allow prisoners the opportunity to have an increased chance in employment when released. As stated by the government there was two previous education path ways available to existing prisoners this included a Prison Education Framework which covered a core education provision and a Dynamic Purchasing System which was aimed at a more niche educational purposes, this was supported by the Governor Empowerment Programme. The Dynamic purchasing system is system which is solely electronic it is a way of means to allow the purchasing of goods and services, this has allowed suppliers to leave at any time during its term, the article from the ministry of defence article “Procurement” on the 21st January 2019, shows the reasoning for a DPS is because the efficiency is high for the large prison education framework. This was all allowed through webinars and digital service meetings which occurred between 2017- 2018 led by MOJ commercials, there was also events nationally ran by the Heads of Learning, Skills and Employment; this concluded in October 2018, which allowed 101 of the 152 original suppliers to get onboard with the scheme. As of the 21st of January 2019, there has been a total of 170 suppliers as stated by the governments prison education Procurement initiative. This is an example of good contracting methods through the evaluation of different contracting companies, this is a successful example of Procurement used in the public sector. The NHS have also invested in a Procurement programme, this was produced by the NHS supply Chain Master called Nick Scholte, who is the chief Executive of the NHS Business Service Authority which was published on the 9th of October 2014, this outlined the NHS’s procurement guidance, in this guidance Lord Carter of Coles states “non-specialist acute trust can reduce unwanted variation and efficiency across every area by 2020-2021”; this is aimed to save the NHS around £5bn per year, this was published on the 28th of November 2013 by gov.uk. The NHS e Procurement stated by Dr Dan Poulter Article “Procurement” page five, shows that in August 2013 the NHS published “ Better Procurement better value better care”, this established the NHS’s procurement efficiency programme, this programme set out a procurement strategy to help overstretched services currently being used the sim was to implement different strategies to help cost effectiveness to help save the NHS through non pay spending £1.5bn, through technological partners e procurement is allowing the NHS to save money which can be implemented into other service areas, a chart below from the article “ NHS procurement strategy “see figure 2.
The impact the political environment has on the funding of public services organisations can be massive, for example the current political environment is the current withdrawal of the UK to the European Union this was defined by Alex Hunt and Brian Wheeler by the BBC on the 31st of January 2019, shown the impact this may have on the NHS, currently the government has allowed a stock pile of medicine for six weeks but this will not only take valuable time but finances, an article from the BBC published on the 21st of August 2018, shows the full impact this may have on the NHS, this shows the risks of a No deal Brexit, there is potential for there to be shortages putting more constraint on the public service. The UK is also currently looking at trade options with the European Medicines Agency, this could impact the NHS through funding and. Through the current political environment other impacts include instability with future funding and with tensions rising politically motivated crimes of violence are taking place which will further constrain the NHS and their service and further lead to overspending on the Governments budget. Also, the government’s obdurate spending cuts due to the expenditure of the current political environment has led to closure of local services to allow the centralisation of the NHS, this has allowed a reduction in funding with the Conservative Government pledging £8bn in funding by 2020. With different political parties pledging different aspects on their manifestos the impact on the NHS can be drastic. The impact on the UK’s Prison Service on the current political environment is an increase in politically motivated crimes, with a current divide within the country more politically motivated crimes are on the increase, this would further stretch the prison services resources with a current stretch already. Further cuts from the current political environment has also further stretched resources as published by Lizzie Dearden, Home Affairs Correspondent for the Independent published on Monday the 23rd of April 2018, stated that due to poor political decisions and further budget cuts, the Civil servant director of the UK’s Prison services between 2003-2010 stated that ,Austerity saw the budget further and was further impacted through the policies under six justice sectaries’, this has impacted funding heavily such as council services available within the prison service with 12,000 self-harm incidents as of 2019 in three months and the Independents Lizzie Dearden published on the 23rd of April 2018 shows that reoffending rates under Conservative political leadership has increased, however since the coalition government there has been a reduction in prison officers from 19,900-14,900, this has further impacted the prisoner service through political means. Overall both the NHS and the Prison Service which are both contrasting Public services are both under current financial and resourcing strains which have been influenced through political measures and the current political environment, through the use of procurement in both services the government has allowed there to be budget cuts with still effectiveness and efficiency from both services, both services are currently under financial and political pressures but are efficient and effective in their contrasting methods and overall financial management.
References
28th of November 2013 by gov.uk
Alex Hunt and Brian Wheeler by the BBC on the 31st of January 2019
Alex Hunt and Brian Wheeler by the BBC on the 31st of January 2019
as The Procurement for prison education dynamic purchasing system as shown in the Governments article “Procurement”
Published by the Ministry of Defence on the 21st of January 2019
Carol Golstone Asoociates with Janet Lewis and Ceridwen Roberts published June 2011 Research iof Procurement
Collins dictionary published by HarperCollins Publishers
Figure 1 by the Eu regulatory frame work produced by the EU council 2019
Figure 2 by Dr Dan Poulter published in August 2013, shows a chart of the projected procurement spending by 2019
Freedom of Information Act 2000
Imogen Groome From the Metro article “Austerity” published on Wednesday 28th of June 2017
Independents Lizzie Dearden published on the 23rd of April 2018
Lizzie Dearden, Home Affairs Correspondent for the Independent published on Monday the 23rd of April 2018
Ministry of Justice, Offender Management Statistics Bulletin, England and Wales Quarterly July to Sept 2018 Prison population: 31 December 2018
NHS e Procurement stated by Dr Dan Poulter Article “Procurement” page five August 2013
http://the-sra.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/effective_procurement_of_social_research_in_government.pdf
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/775078/offender-management-quarterly-q3-2018.pdf
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/344574/NHS_eProcurement_Strategy.pdf
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/financial-performance-reports/
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/prisons-uk-jails-crisis-cuts-conservatives-david-gauke-phil-wheatley-a8318806.html
https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/17300470.revealed-great-western-hospital-almost-full-as-nhs-commentators-warn-of-bleakest-winter-yet-for-health-service/
https://www.thesnowcentre.com/snowsure/news/planning-approved-for-the-snow-centre-swindon
https://www.thesnowcentre.com/snowsure/news/planning-approved-for-the-snow-centre-swindon
3.4.2019