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Since the 1980s, the government has increasingly used contracting out to provide public services. This memorandum aims to stimulate a public debate on how to improve government contracting. It brings together information on four contractors -Atos, Capita, G4S, and Serco. The current government, like the one before it, sees contracting out as a way to reform public services and improve value for money. The government believes that contractors generally have often not provided sufficient value, and can contribute more to the overall austerity programme. But the general level of transparency over contractors’ costs and profits is limited.