Barry O'Farrell to outsource thousands of jobs
EXCLUSIVE
Ordered a secret review: Barry O'Farrell. Photo: Ben Rushton
Thousands of public service jobs across the state would be
slashed under the recommendations of a secret review ordered by Barry
O'Farrell into the outsourcing of government services.
The Premier asked the state's pricing regulator to
investigate the ''planning, delivery and maintenance'' of all public
infrastructure in September, to recommend ''which capabilities should be
retained within government''.
The existence of the review has not been made public.
But Fairfax Media can reveal the Independent Pricing and
Regulatory Tribunal's recommendations would result in thousands of job
cuts in just one department.
Draft recommendations to the state's road authorities, for
instance, demand the wholesale outsourcing of all roadwork and road
design across the state apart from emergency and incident responses.
The review, however, also makes recommendations to other government agencies.
In response to IPART's recommendations, Roads and Maritime
Services says the agency already plans to get rid of about 30 per cent
of its workforce in the next three years.
''The reforms will reduce full-time equivalent staff numbers
over a three-year period from 7415 (2013-14) to 5260,'' RMS says in a
draft dated March.
The RMS response to the IPART review was included in a
parliamentary call for papers initiated by Greens MP Mehreen Faruqi for
documents relating to the business case for the WestConnex motorway.
But the IPART review would include recommendations relating to other agencies as well as RMS.
A spokeswoman for IPART referred questions about the review
to Mr O'Farrell's office but confirmed IPART had not released any
information about the review. A spokesman for Mr O'Farrell confirmed the
government asked for the report.
Asked why the government did not announce it had commissioned
the report, the spokesman said: ''The government commissions a range of
reports to ensure value for money.''
According to briefing notes prepared this month by RMS for a
meeting with Roads Minister Duncan Gay, ''the objective of this review
is to recommend options to improve cost effectiveness of government
across all aspects of planning, delivery and maintenance of public
infrastructure''.
RMS says it largely agrees with IPART's recommendations. One
area it expresses reservations in is ''balancing efficiency savings''
against the large numbers of
employees who work in regional areas of the state.
Almost half of RMS staff work in regional areas.
The WestConnex documents demonstrate most of the planning
and design for the motorway is performed by consultants and contractors.
They include invoices from Macquarie Capital, which is providing financial advice for the project.
Macquarie billed the government $490,903 for two months' work
in April and May last year, including $19,465 for out of pocket
expenses. These expenses include $10,565 in airfares and $2617 in taxis.
Paul Davies, the NSW director of Professional Engineers
Australia, said RMS had already cut 20 per cent of its engineers in the
past two years.
Mr Davies said outsourcing often led to waste.
''When you contract out you've still got to run those
contracts and control your costs, and you need engineers to do that and
unfortunately they are cutting that capacity,'' he said. ''Poorly scoped
projects that come from diminished engineering capability [are] a
burden for all.''
A spokeswoman for RMS said there would be no reduction in
services as a result of the reforms. Of the 2000 fewer jobs, she said
about 850 positions would transfer to new Service NSW ''one stop
shops''.
About 700 positions would be affected by the outsourcing of
road maintenance in Sydney. In November, the government signed 10-year
contracts worth about $2 billion with Leighton Boral Amey and
DownerMouchel to maintain roads in Sydney.
RMS says it expects to save 5 to 10 per cent from the road
maintenance contracts. The RMS spokeswoman said the department had
lowered consultant costs by more than 50 per cent in three years.
IPART's recommendations to RMS call on it to commercialise
and outsource ''advisory and strategic planning services''; ''project
development, including land entry and acquisition'' and ''contract
management and procurement'' as well as all road design, construction
and maintenance.
Ordered a secret review: Barry O'Farrell. Photo: Ben Rushton
Thousands of public service jobs across the state would be
slashed under the recommendations of a secret review ordered by Barry
O'Farrell into the outsourcing of government services.
The Premier asked the state's pricing regulator to
investigate the ''planning, delivery and maintenance'' of all public
infrastructure in September, to recommend ''which capabilities should be
retained within government''.
The existence of the review has not been made public.
But Fairfax Media can reveal the Independent Pricing and
Regulatory Tribunal's recommendations would result in thousands of job
cuts in just one department.
Draft recommendations to the state's road authorities, for
instance, demand the wholesale outsourcing of all roadwork and road
design across the state apart from emergency and incident responses.
The review, however, also makes recommendations to other government agencies.
In response to IPART's recommendations, Roads and Maritime
Services says the agency already plans to get rid of about 30 per cent
of its workforce in the next three years.
''The reforms will reduce full-time equivalent staff numbers
over a three-year period from 7415 (2013-14) to 5260,'' RMS says in a
draft dated March.
The RMS response to the IPART review was included in a
parliamentary call for papers initiated by Greens MP Mehreen Faruqi for
documents relating to the business case for the WestConnex motorway.
But the IPART review would include recommendations relating to other agencies as well as RMS.
A spokeswoman for IPART referred questions about the review
to Mr O'Farrell's office but confirmed IPART had not released any
information about the review. A spokesman for Mr O'Farrell confirmed the
government asked for the report.
Asked why the government did not announce it had commissioned
the report, the spokesman said: ''The government commissions a range of
reports to ensure value for money.''
According to briefing notes prepared this month by RMS for a
meeting with Roads Minister Duncan Gay, ''the objective of this review
is to recommend options to improve cost effectiveness of government
across all aspects of planning, delivery and maintenance of public
infrastructure''.
RMS says it largely agrees with IPART's recommendations. One
area it expresses reservations in is ''balancing efficiency savings''
against the large numbers of
employees who work in regional areas of the state.
Almost half of RMS staff work in regional areas.
The WestConnex documents demonstrate most of the planning
and design for the motorway is performed by consultants and contractors.
They include invoices from Macquarie Capital, which is providing financial advice for the project.
Macquarie billed the government $490,903 for two months' work
in April and May last year, including $19,465 for out of pocket
expenses. These expenses include $10,565 in airfares and $2617 in taxis.
Paul Davies, the NSW director of Professional Engineers
Australia, said RMS had already cut 20 per cent of its engineers in the
past two years.
Mr Davies said outsourcing often led to waste.
''When you contract out you've still got to run those
contracts and control your costs, and you need engineers to do that and
unfortunately they are cutting that capacity,'' he said. ''Poorly scoped
projects that come from diminished engineering capability [are] a
burden for all.''
A spokeswoman for RMS said there would be no reduction in
services as a result of the reforms. Of the 2000 fewer jobs, she said
about 850 positions would transfer to new Service NSW ''one stop
shops''.
About 700 positions would be affected by the outsourcing of
road maintenance in Sydney. In November, the government signed 10-year
contracts worth about $2 billion with Leighton Boral Amey and
DownerMouchel to maintain roads in Sydney.
RMS says it expects to save 5 to 10 per cent from the road
maintenance contracts. The RMS spokeswoman said the department had
lowered consultant costs by more than 50 per cent in three years.
IPART's recommendations to RMS call on it to commercialise
and outsource ''advisory and strategic planning services''; ''project
development, including land entry and acquisition'' and ''contract
management and procurement'' as well as all road design, construction
and maintenance.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/barry-ofarrell-to-outsource-thousands-of-jobs-20140327-35lr9.html#ixzz2xC0sIKqL
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