5 REASONS TO END LOCAL COUNCIL OUTSOURCING

Margaret Thatcher forced councils to outsource in the 1980s, and it's been a 40 year failed experiment. But now the tide is starting to turn. Whether you’re visiting your park or your library, whether you need help with food safety standards, council tax or recycling, local public services are vital.
 
A report from the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) shows that 3 out of 4 UK councils were planning to bring services in-house in 2019.
 
And no wonder. Here are five reasons why insourcing is better than outsourcing.

 1) A better deal for the public purse

Outsourcing means we waste money on shareholder profits and the cost of managing contracts. 78% of local authorities say insourcing gives them more flexibility, two-thirds say it saves them money, and over half say it has improved the quality of the service while simplifying how it is managed.

2) Less risk, more control

Public services aren’t optional extras. So when the private sector fails, the public sector has to pick up the pieces. That’s what happened when Carillion collapsed - the directors and shareholders made a profit and walked away, leaving local and national government to sort out the mess.

 3) Fair conditions for workers

The only way outsourcing can actually save money is by undermining workers. Public service staff - who are disproportionally women, people of colour and migrants - are doing important work and they should be treated fairly. Bringing services in house means workers have decent employment, terms and conditions, improving their lives and their morale.
 

4) Keeps the public pound in local economy

Instead of funnelling money to multinational corporations who will extract as much as they can, we can keep wealth in our communities through bringing council services in house. That means more money circulating in the local economy.
 

5) Public accountability

Waste. Fraud. Collapse. Outsourcing has failed us for 40 years and there’s been scandal after scandal. We’re totally sick of it - 64% of us don’t trust outsourcing companies. Companies like G4S, Serco and Capita have no place in our public services. We need to bring insource services so they work for people not profit.
 
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