Are governments looking for synergies in multi-service bidding?
Wilson: Now that’s an area where the U.K. market is particularly advanced. In the case of service consortia — which may include everything from the provision of technology services to tax collection to human resource management to food services — the government avoids pre-determining the synergies, because there are no longer separate contracts to manage. With one omnibus contract, the consortium and its general contractor are left to figure out the internal economies. And with the market for P3s growing and becoming more sophisticated, the consortia tend to be stable and bid on multiple projects, so they have worked out their internal arrangements. When the private sector takes over services, how are staff transfers normally handled? What happens to the existing agreements? Wilson: In Europe we have legislation that specifies transfer obligations for new and existing labour. When a P3 or an outsourcing contract takes place, the provider has to take on board the existing public-sector
