Commissioning – Better in-house provision is needed – Prof Dexter Whitfield

Professor Dexter Whitfield who has provided over 30 reports on Future Shape for Barnet UNISON has written this article:

Commissioning is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The separation of client and contractor roles, the enabling model, is little more than a revamp of the ‘contract city’ concept to outsource most services; the ultimate neoliberal public management.

Barnet LBC, despite claims that Future Shape, easyCouncil and now One Barnet were not mass outsourcing projects, is engaged in procurement to outsource 2,600 jobs, 70% of non-school staff. Detailed analysis of Council documents has revealed in-house options marginalised, operational risks ignored, weak economic and financial cases, no service transformation proposals and no citizen engagement. Taxpayers have no evidence that the risks and impact of the overall model have been assessed…..

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