St Helena Outsourcing
2nd July 09

Workshop for the private sector in St Helena The island of St Helena is one of the most remote inhabited islands in the world. It lies in the South Atlantic Ocean, about 1,700 miles north-west of Cape Town. The island's population is around 4000 persons

St Helena can be reached only by sea. Current access arrangements, via the UK Government-subsidised Royal Mail Ship St Helena, limit the prospects for sustainable economic growth. In March 2005, the UK Government announced its intention to establish air access for St. Helena. However, since May 2007, when the Government re-tendered the contract to design, build and operate an airport for the island, the global economic climate has changed dramatically. It is against this background that the Government announced in December 2008 that it would be pausing the negotiations on the St Helena Airport. Since then, a process of consultation has been established to examine whether an airport remains the most appropriate option for access to St Helena.

The economy of St Helena is dominated by the public sector. The Government of St Helena (SHG) has a long-standing aim to outsource services to the private sector as part of long-term reform. In early 2007, GIC were appointed by SHG and the UK Department for International Development to develop an outsourcing policy and associated procedures for St Helena, and support early stage implementation. With the help of GIC, SHG prepared a five-year programme for outsourcing. GIC completed this work in September 2007. The implementation has been very successful; the early appointment of Susan O'Bey to the newly-created post of Contracts and External Services Manager has been instrumental in achieving strong results.

The programme builds on the experience of services already successfully outsourced. Services outsourced to date include: Print Service (outsourced, then privatised), Swimming Pool, Quarry (privatised) and the School Bus Service. SHG currently plans to outsource some twenty-six services. The St Helena Development Agency is assisting SHG with market testing, with a view to ensuring that those services which SHG wishes to outsource are ones which the private sector is able and willing to provide.

In June 2009, SHG issued a press release reporting further progress in outsourcing Government services to the private sector, with two services having moved to the private sector and a further two in the final stages of moving. Outsourcing of the Sawmill and the Vehicle Inspection Service has been completed and both services are now operating as private sector businesses. The Public Health and Social Services Department is in the final stages of negotiation with a preferred bidder for the provision of laundry services for the department. Plans are also in hand to move the responsibility for the cleaning of Government buildings away from SHG. The School Bus Contract has also been put out for re-tender and is currently going through the tender process.

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