Sodexo launches Public Service Pledge
Foodservice and facilities management firm Sodexo has today launched its Public Service Pledge, an ethical manifesto designed to help the company contribute to achieving a fairer and better society.
Sodexo's UK and Ireland chief executive Debbie White made the announcement this afternoon at One Great George Street, London, to an assembled audience that included the Rt Hon Francis Maude MP, Minister for the Cabinet Office.
The Pledge includes a commitment to join the Living Wage's Service Provider scheme as well as a promise to report on and address the gender pay gap, which the company announced earlier this month.
Sodexo has also detailed its plans to increase the transparency and accountability of its Government contracts by ramping up its reporting on public sector business.
Sodexo employs around 34,000 people across the UK and Ireland and more than half of these work on Government contracts, including in justice, defence, healthcare and education.
Commenting on the Pledge, White said: "We very much believe that in our relationships with our clients, whether they be in the public or private sector, we sign a social as well as a commercial contract. Our Public Service Pledge is designed to bring this to life; to give us a set of tangible actions, commitments and targets that will help us demonstrate our principles.
"The Public Service Pledge is also about setting out our stall as a leading services company and fighting the corner for private sector provision in the public sector."
Francis Maude said at the launch of the Pledge: "Reforming public services to improve their quality and drive savings for taxpayers is a core part of this Government's long-term economic plan. We are on track to save taxpayers £20b this year compared to a 2009/10 baseline through efficiency and reform, and by reducing losses to fraud, error and debt. There's so much more to do in the years to come and we have ambitious plans to accelerate our savings."
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