Government spends $47.7m outsourcing services for five years

The government spends nearly $50 million in outsourcing services between 2012 and 2017.

The figures were released Wednesday (3 July) in an Auditor General’s report. It reveals the four main areas outsourced were landscaping and gardening, security, school buses and IT related services.

The report said $17.3 million was spent to bus students to and from school, $14.7 million on security services, $13.2 million on janitorial and gardening services and $2.3 million on IT related services.

The report said it is not clear how the government plans or makes decisions about which services to outsource and how they align with its overarching objectives. The report goes on to say that some services had been outsourced to help reduce costs and to reduce management oversight. However, there was no evidence to support this.