Oral Reply to Parliamentary Questions on Adoption of Outcome-Based Contracting (OBC) for Security Services in the Public and Private Sectors

Questions:

Mr Mohd Fahmi Bin Aliman: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) what is the current adoption rate of outcome-based contracting (OBC) for public sector security service buyers; (b) whether the Ministry tracks the adoption rate for private sector security service buyers; (c) whether these adoption rates have met the Ministry’s targets; and (d) what is the plan to further increase the adoption rate of OBC in the public and private sectors.

Mr Mohd Fahmi Bin Aliman: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) whether the Ministry is promoting the adoption of outcome-based contracting for the procurement of security services by managing agents appointed by annually-elected MCST Councils, given that short contracting periods remain a key impediment to the adoption of technologically-enabled security solutions at private residential estates; and (b) if so, what more can be done to further promote this.

Answer:

Mr Desmond Tan, Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment:

1.    Outcome-based contracting (OBC) is a key strategy under the Security Industry Transformation Map. It will enable security agencies to innovate and deliver more productive solutions that integrate manpower, technology, and process improvements. OBC offers the potential for buyers to achieve better security outcomes at lower long-term costs, in particular for manpower.

2.    To catalyse the adoption of OBC, it has been made mandatory for public agencies to adopt OBC for new security services contracts put out for tender from May 2020 onwards. More than half of the public agencies have since adopted OBC. The remaining agencies will come on board over the next few years.

3.    In a survey conducted by MHA in 2020, the OBC adoption rate among private sector buyers at that time was about 6%. At the same time, in the survey, about seven in ten indicated they had plans to adopt OBC. Hence, we can expect the adoption rate to increase in the coming years.

4.    MHA will continue to work closely with industry partners in the engagement and training of buyers to assist them in their transition to OBC. For instance, the Singapore Police Force’s Centre for Protective Security (CPS) has been conducting webinars and focus group discussions to share the benefits of OBC. This includes firms providing managing agent services to Management Corporations Strata Title (MCST) councils of private residences. CPS has also recently launched an OBC resource portal, with useful information on grants, courses, and contract templates for premise owners. More case studies and examples will gradually be included in due course. For private residences, a resource kit featuring curated cases of successful adoption of OBC has been disseminated to all the MCST councils.

5.    In addition, MHA will continue supporting concurrent engagement initiatives by industry associations and the Union, where experiences and best practices on OBC are shared. We also commend the various ground-up efforts to better facilitate adoption of OBC, such as the Association of Certified Security Agencies’ Step-by-Step Guide launched last year, and the Security Association Singapore’s development of an online outcome-based tender generator and repository. These are encouraging efforts and we will continue to work with our partners to ensure high adoption of OBC.