Outcome-based Considerations in Awarding Criteria in Government Procurement Processes

Parliamentary Question by Ms Yeo Wan Ling:

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance (a) whether Government procurement processes have started to take into account outcome-based considerations in their awarding criteria; and (b) what are some of these considerations especially for industries that have or are adopting Progressive Wage Models.

Parliamentary Reply by Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister for Finance Mr Lawrence Wong:

The Government adopts outcome-based procurement where appropriate and feasible. Such adoption is only possible if the outcomes can be measured or monitored and when there is industry readiness to bid for outcome-based specifications. These considerations apply to all industries, whether they are adopting Progressive Wage Model or not.

In support of the implementation of the Progressive Wage Models for the cleaning, landscape and security sectors, most new tenders called by Government agencies for these sectors today adopt Outcome-Based Contracting (“OBC”). For instance, agencies specify the response time expected of security officers or the cleaning outcomes and service quality to be maintained, rather than specify headcount for the contracts. This allows service providers to suggest solutions that integrate and better optimise manpower, technology and processes. However, there are still some instances where specific manpower and technology requirements may be spelled out due to critical operational requirements, such as for security escort operations and landscape maintenance in national gardens.

Where we are able to measure or monitor the outcomes, we will similarly adopt more OBCs for other PWM sectors that the government procures from.