European Services Strategy Unit

2009

Examines Cardiff Council’s transformation ‘insourcing’ strategy consisting of four major strategic partnerships with the private sector. The assessment, commissioned by Cardiff UNISON, examines service driven verses ‘customer centric service delivery’, the lack of citizen and community involvement and the problems of top-down budget dominated transformation. It proposes an alternative transformation strategy that is substantive and sustainable, protects and improves the quality of service, achieves a better balance between transformational change and budget objectives, involves staff and trade unions in the transformation process and protects the quality of employment.

A report by the Campaign Against Climate Change trade union group which makes the case for 1 million new climate jobs. It explains the difference between climate and green jobs, how they will be funded, why and how the jobs will be created. A detailed report is planned in 2010. Dexter Whitfield, ESSU, advised on the job calculations.

The ESSU has produced a report for the Northern TUC, UNISON and UNITE into the safety and operational performance of Deutsche Bahn, currently one of two organisations processing through the final stages of competitive tendering to run Tyne and Wear Metro services for Nexus, the Tyne & Wear Passenger Transport Authority, the other ‘bidder’ being an in-house bid team. The report is available at www.tuc.org.uk/publicsector/tuc-17147-f0.cfm?regional=3

ESSU has worked closely with UNISON Barnet in responding to Barnet Council’s Future Shape proposals. This has included responding to the October 2009 Cabinet report, production of a draft Corporate Procurement Strategy and a two-day commissioning and procurement training course. A detailed response to the Council’s latest proposals on the ‘personalisation’ of services is being produced.

Nexus, the Tyne & Wear Passenger Transport Authority, has been required to seek tenders for an operational contract, a government imposed condition of £300m public investment. ESSU Director, Dexter Whitfield, has been the trade union observer, on behalf of the Northern TUC, UNISON and UNITE, in the three week moderation stage of the bid evaluation process.

The ESSU worked with the University and College Union on their guide for branch activists on fighting privatisation. ESSU also produced a Commissioning and Procurement Guide on the marketisation and privatisation of tertiary education for the union’s internal use.

The new and expanded edition of the PPP Database is available to download. It covers 40 PPP local government contracts with a combined value of £8.1bn and employing 16,624 staff. It includes a new table on terminated contracts.

Examines Cardiff Council’s transformation ‘insourcing’ strategy consisting of four major strategic partnerships with the private sector. The assessment, commissioned by Cardiff UNISON, examines service driven verses ‘customer centric service delivery’, the lack of citizen and community involvement and the problems of top-down budget dominated transformation. It proposes an alternative transformation strategy that is substantive and sustainable, protects and improves the quality of service, achieves a better balance between transformational change and budget objectives, involves staff and trade unions in the transformation process and protects the quality of employment.

Studies assessing reform proposals and alternatives.

ESSU was commissioned by UNISON Northern to prepare a detailed report on a PPD/KPMG proposal to outsource and offshore prescription processing. This comprehensive report examines value for money, risk assessment, insourcing trends, public cost analysis and other issues. A decision to outsource was postponed indefinitely in November 2006 following intervention by the Health Minister.

A Glossary of Terms covering many of the current concepts, phrases and jargon used in the design, planning and provision of public services.

Dexter Whitfield.

384 pages, to be published November 2009, Spokesman Books, Nottingham.

Public infrastructure in the 21st century is confronted with new challenges – adapting to climate change, meeting the economic, energy, water, transportation and social infrastructure needs of megacities in Asia, megaregions in North America, European city regions and older industrial areas.

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The South Australian State Government is proposing five PPPs for the future development of the State’s correctional facilities by moving men’s and women’s prisons, a youth training centre and a pre-release centre to Murray Bridge. The Public Service Association commissioned the Australian Institute for Social Research (AISR), University of Adelaide, to identify the indirect and/or hidden social/economic costs associated with the relocations. The European Services Strategy Unit literature review focuses on the economic, social and employment impact of locating prisons in rural areas, drawing particularly on US evidence. In October 2008 the South Australian State Government announced that funding for the new prisons will delayed until 2013-14 because of the current economic climate. A preliminary analysis of direct and indirect costs associated with the relocation of prison facilities to the Murray Bridge district by AISR is available at www.cpsu.asn.au/~sa/webnews/Final_Report_30_10_08.pdf