Managed service provider (MSP) models of supplying staff to the public sector are in danger of becoming unsustainable, according to the chief executive of the Recruitment & Employment Confederation.

Kevin Green (pictured) told recruiters at the REC’s ‘The future of public sector resourcing’ conference in London yesterday that models such as master and neutral vendors had inherent flaws.

The first was the inability of recruiters to “have a conversation” with the client, said Green. “Understanding a client’s culture is very difficult when you cannot have a conversation with the client. How can you have a partnership?”

Green said another inherent flaw was that suppliers would find the low margins increasingly less attractive as the private sector recovers.

“Good second and third tier suppliers will have a choice about who they work with when the private sector picks up,” said Green.

“The danger is that you get good second and third tier suppliers walking away and that the quality of the candidate diminishes.”