The title of an article in The Guardian (by Lizzie Presser) which draws on ESSU’s database of PPP Strategic Partnerships and evidence of a high contract failure rate. Includes comments about the benefits of in-house services from leaders of Cumbria County Council, Liverpool City, the London Borough of Islington and the Local Government Association’s improvement and innovation board.

The Chinese translation in China Social Welfare Journal of the summary report of The New Health and Social Care Economy study of Sefton MBC, Liverpool and Greater Manchester City Regions and North West regional economy – see News, July 2015. Thanks to Prof. Li Bing, Beijing.

This is a radical proposal by the People vs Barts PFI campaign which has been researching and discussing ‘what to do about PFI’ for several years. The paper explains what SPVs are, how SPVs spin off private profit from public assets and proposes a mechanism for nationalising the SPVs. Proposals to strengthen the public design, project management and ‘intelligent client’ functions be strengthened in non-PFI public sector construction projects and problems with the proposal to centralise the debt are detailed in two appendices. A proposal to centralise and reduce PFI obligations contained in Part 4 of the NHS Reinstatement Bill are also examined. Access paper:

The Council finally terminated the 2007 contract after years of failing to achieve savings, poor performance, expensive contractual disputes and returning some services in-house. Details of these events are contained in various editions of the PPP Strategic Partnership Database.

Two reports by ESSU predicted these problems – Somerset ISIS or Crisis and Southwest One Lessons and New Agenda.

Dave Orr, a retired UNISON member, and Nigel Behan, UNITE, undertook a rigorous investigative 8-year campaign to expose the fundamental flaws in the contract.

“What we are for is equally important as what we are against” was the theme of a large public meeting on 16 September at Nottingham University. The presentation described the dynamic forces, public sector ‘transformation’ and set out alternative strategies to regenerate public services. The meeting was jointly organized by the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation, Spokesman Books, the Centre of the Study of Social and Global Justice and University and College Union.
 

A major study of the New Health and Social Care Economy was launched at a Integrate Care Council event in Birmingham on 1 July. The 96-page report is a definitive analysis of the Sefton MBC, Liverpool and Greater Manchester City Regions and the North West regional economy.

466,574 documents (doc and pdf), presentations and spreadsheets have been downloaded from this ESSU/CPS website since June 2005 with a global reach – a very significant record for a small organisation. Many documents are also available on the websites of organisations that commissioned research and analysis, thus increasing the total to well over half a million downloads.

This paper for the National Coalition for Independent Action’s Inquiry examines neoliberal ideology and objectives and their role in the transformation of public services and the welfare state. The paper highlights ways in which voluntary sector organisations are being drawn into the commercialisation and marketisation of public services and the effects of a contract culture. Other Inquiry reports available from: http://www.independentaction.net/category/inquiry-voluntary-services/updates-reports/

Exposes how austerity policies have fuelled the fire of recession rather than stimulated growth. It identifies key lessons from organising and action against such policies, and urges a rethink of trade union, community and social movement strategies to overcome austerity. Unmasking Austerity examines the deeper causes of the financial crisis, and exposes the manufactured crises, which are being used to dismantle hard-earned labour rights and the welfare state. A radical alternative strategy includes economic stimulus, reconstruction of public services, faster fundamental reform of banks and financial markets, the elimination of corporate welfare that enriches big business, and strategies to increase labour’s share of national income. ePub available from Spokesman Books and Amazon.

The Protective Equipment Group (PEG) provides specialist equipment, expertise and services ranging from respiratory and chemical protection to high line and water rescue. It employs 35 staff and operates 24/7/365 for emergency services. The service was included in the retendering of the fleet maintenance contract (a 21 year contract awarded to Babcock International), but the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority decided to retain the PEG service in-house following a report by ESSU for UNISON LFEPA and an officer cost assessment report.

LFEPA Response to UNISON report – FEP 2237A (27 March 2014) and the LFEPA Report retaining PEG in-house FEP 2237 (27 March 2014) Procurement Process for the Authority’s Vehicles and Equipment Contract and the Protective Equipment Services.