Top of the list for the new president of the Business Services Association (BSA), Michael Jeffries is to persuade the incoming government that the support services industry needs its own minister to champion the interests of the sector.
His argument is that the sector, which straddles a wide variety of services from security and cleaning to maintenance and catering needs one clear voice at government level.
'The work of the BSA's members is split over different sectors, and each is looked after by different government departments,' explains Jeffries, who in April became chairman of WS Atkins after six years as chief executive.
Issues concerning the security services sector, such as the regulation of the industry, fall under the Home Office, while support services firms with a strong interest in contract catering will find matters relevant to them dealt with by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
'But, while they are looked after by different government departments, the services issues and employment issues are common,' says Jeffries. 'The problem is that legislation is being implemented and determined in an inconsistent way from one government department to another.'
There is a long way to go before we achieve recognition for facilities business in its entirety
Ian Fielder
A fair enough argument. But why should anyone in government — or facilities management for that matter — be concerned by it?
The BSA hopes to persuade government of its case with research it has carried out among member companies. This underlines the importance of the sector to the overall economy. The research findings estimate the combined global turnover of BSA member companies including Amey, Sodexho, Mitie Group, OCS, Interserve (Tilbury Douglas/Building & Property) and Carillion, at £34bn — and in the UK, £13.2bn.
Given that a considerable chunk of the activity of those businesses falls under the management of facilities teams in the UK, it's clear that policy made in that sector has a considerable — if indirect — impact on the facilities management role.
The department of choice for the BSA lobbyists is the DTI. 'Mike (Jeffries) will be taking the issues up with the new secretary of state and I shall be taking it up with the permanent secretary,' explains director general of the BSA, Norman Rose. 'Since in a normal outsourcing contract around 80 per cent of the contract relates to staff, it is the DTI that needs to know the views of very large employers on the legislation it is involved in,' he says.
The DTI also makes sense as the home of a champion for support services, due to its international role. 'We are looking to export PFIs and PPPs. The DTI is the department which has international trade at its centre and they are the ideal people to help us export,' adds Rose.
Legislation is determined and implemented in an inconsistent way between departments
Michael Jeffries
Top of the list of issues that the BSA wishes to tackle the government on has to be Tupe — the rules governing the transfer of staff in outsourcing contracts. The increasing complexity and lack of clarity in this area continues to try the patience of both sides in the contracting relationship. 'The (former) government promised a resolution in eighteen months on Tupe and it has been derailed by the Best Value initiative,' says Jeffries. Rose adds: 'By including pensions in Tupe they have created a problem — not in the public sector, but in the private sector — in the move from one private company to another.'
But, can the new government really be expected to take any notice of the support services sector's wish for a 'sponsoring' minister when past governments have taken precious little notice of similar approaches from related sectors?
The construction sector is unique in securing a champion for itself at ministerial level. Property by contrast has found the going far more difficult.
Director general of the British Property Federation (BPF), Will McKee, says the reason the property sector has never succeeded in getting a government department to sponsor it, is because its activities are spread across several sectors, preventing its identification as an industry. It also has an image problem. A bigger problem for facilities management, he suggests, is that 'it doesn't have an image at all yet'.
Meanwhile, he argues, any sector is competing against two more powerful groups — the 'naturally lovable' category, such as nurses, and the 'unloved but needed' category, in other words the City. 'We're not seen as being as important as the City — and we're certainly not loved' says McKee.
We’re not seen as being as important as the City — and we’re certainly not loved
Will McKee
The BPF has more recently turned its attention away from the DETR. 'Increasingly we've been looking for support from the DTI and the Treasury - they are more promotional and business oriented. The DETR is more into the environment,' he says.
Of course the ace the BSA has up its sleeve, is the central role played by support services and facilities management contractors in PFIs and PPPs.
'Gordon's (Brown) golden sector is facilities management,' the Financial Times commented in March. 'Many of its members used to be known as construction companies and they are now reorienting themselves to build and manage big projects, whether it be hospitals, transport or schools. Typically these are developed under the private finance initiative. According to last year's Red Book, the Treasury will soon be shelling out £3bn a year in annual PFI payments, a rise of 50 per cent on this year.' Reason enough, you might think, for the services contracting side of the sector, at the very least, to have earned its own champion.
But not everyone is convinced. At least not in the short term. 'There's a long way to go before we achieve recognition for facilities management in its entirety,' comments chair of BIFM, Ian Fielder. 'That's why Norman (Rose) is concentrating on PFI. He has the ear of government ministers and he's playing a political game,' he says.
But, even representation for the support services side of the business will have to wait, he thinks. 'If it gets recognition — that's great.' But in his opinion it's unlikely in the life of the new government.
Source
The Facilities Business
