Bournemouth and One Barnet

Our branch has mentioned the mass outsourcing in Bournemouth before when we first hear the name of the Consultancy company (Agilysys) who were awarded the contract to help deliver the outsourcing projects.

An interesting development has emerged

“A SENIOR Bournemouth council officer was suspended and allegedly escorted from the town hall after speaking out against the council’s controversial outsourcing deal with Mouchel.

Chief accountant Stephen Parker emailed all councillors before a crucial meeting on Wednesday to warn them of his concerns about the risks of expanding its links with the company

Many of his colleagues were so outraged by the move that they followed him out of the building, giving him a round of applause as he left.”

He goes on to say

“..the council had failed to consider options that would have provided “a more balanced financial and risk-assessed contract” and said he was writing to councillors “with a degree of disappointment”.

I have to say this council officer is an extraordinary individual. To speak out like he has done has to be one of the bravest things anyone can do within a council. Large organisations such as Councils do have ‘whistle blowing policies’ but often find that they are very rarely used because of the fear of backlash.

UNISON has submitted countless reports also remarking on the absence of both financial and risk issues within One Barnet business cases  

You can read the full article here

Finally the above issue comes at a time when the Private Sector partner, Mouchel delivering services on behalf of the council are in the middle of what appears to be a significant crisis