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The Government Efficiency Unit today (December 8) issued the report on 2006 Survey on Government Outsourcing.
The survey revealed that:
* The annual expenditure of $44 billion on outsourcing by the Government remains at about the same level as in 2004;
* The annual expenditure on non-works outsourced services has dropped from $13.9 billion in 2004 to $12.1 billion in 2006. The reduction in expenditure is believed to be partly due to keen competition among tenderers resulting in lower contract prices;
* There is a trend towards longer and larger contracts for non-works outsourced services enabling further savings to be achieved because of economies of scale and reduced procurement costs;
* Government departments are generally satisfied with the results of their outsourcing although there are areas where departments have identified that skills need to be improved.
"The survey shows that government departments and their contractors are generally satisfied with the outcomes of their contracts," Assistant Director of the Efficiency Unit, Mr Steve Barclay, said.
"We will study the Report carefully to identify where we need to improve the training offered to civil servants, and update outsourcing guides, manuals, etc."
The survey is the fourth biennial outsourcing survey conducted since 2000. It provides a "snapshot" of the Government's outsourcing activities as at July 31, 2006. There were 3,984 government outsourcing contracts with a total contract value of $208 billion and 1,545 contractors engaged.
The report has been uploaded onto the Efficiency Unit's website (http://www.eu.gov.hk) for public viewing.
Ends/Friday, December 8, 2006
Issued at HKT 15:01
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