Outsourcing aggravation riles Councillor

A local union chief has accused Conservative Councillors of acting in their own interests this week as disputes over the planned outsourcing of departmental services at Bournemouth Borough Council continue.

David Higgins, Bournemouth branch secretary for UNISON, the trade union representing many local public sector workers, accused Deputy Leader of the Council, John Beesley, of playing politics over the issue of outsourcing, saying that the Councillor’s legacy was the impetus for the outsourcing project.

“Councillor Beesley’s the one that’s driving this. It’s his idea.

“Anyone that’s disagreed with him in the past has been chucked out of the cabinet or off committees.”

Councillor Beesley said he was extremely disappointed in Mr Higgins, adding that the union chief was being “wholly disingenuous.”

Concerns have been raised by opposition Councillors over the move, which would see council operations moved out of the remit of the local authority and into hands of private companies. Liberal Democrat Councillor Roger West called a special meeting in April to discuss the move, which he yesterday called “complete madness”.

The Council intends to offer contracts to outside companies in four different departments according to the Council’s ‘Efficiency Review 2010’ document, which says that efficiency savings could reach over £7 million.

Maria O’Reilly, Strategic ICT Manager for the council, said the local authority was “particularly keen for local jobs to stay in-house.”

However Councillor Beesley did concede that the council faced “difficult choices” in regards to the economic climate, offering assurances only that “the majority of jobs” could be kept local.

Yet according to a study undertaken by the Association for Public Service Excellence, there are at least 50 different examples of Councils bringing outsourced operations back in-house after dissatisfactory performances.

The Tory Council has come under much local scrutiny in recent weeks as a result of this, and other features of the internal politics of the council have come to light, notably the controversy embroiling council leader Stephen McLoughlin over the misuse of his council laptop.