Details 11 buyouts, 20 terminations and 43 projects with major problems, plus many bailouts, accounting for 28% of PFI/PPP contracts by capital value. The public cost of buyouts, bailouts, terminations and major problem contracts is £27,902m, when combined with the additional cost of private finance, interest rate swaps and higher PFI transaction costs.  This ESSU…

Analysis of Barnet Council’s proposals for the Library Service – 46% job loss and 70% cut in hours. 72% of library opening hours will be unstaffed technology-enabled opening with 10% being volunteer-supported. Highlights widespread community opposition, flawed economics and the false claims made to justify the transfer or outsourcing of the Library Service.

Analysis of planned new operating model for Adult Social Care in London Borough of Barnet in parallel with £18.5m cuts over 4 years. Model relies heavily on volunteers and asserts that community and voluntary organisations will be ‘equal partners’. Barnet UNISON makes a series of proposals to radically change the Council’s and its consultants approach…

Privatisation of Education & Skills and Catering in Barnet In November 2015 Barnet Council awarded the Education & Skills and Catering contract to a sole bidder, Cambridge Education (Mott McDonald) who had subcontracted catering to ISS. This report examines the consequences of the decision and urges the Council to retain the successful catering service in-house…

Barnet Council plan to cut Library workforce by nearly 50%, reduce staffed hours by 70%, four libraries will be run by volunteers, yet will spend £7.6m searching for a contractor. This report for Barnet UNISON examines the proposals at the start of a second public consultation.

The first detailed critical analysis of the growing global market in social impact bond projects and reveals that they are the latest new ‘buy-now-pay-later’ scheme to privatise public services and the welfare state. Details 30 financial and public policy flaws in these projects. Proposes an alternative strategy consisting of government and public sector plans for…

The presentation at the University of Nottingham described the dynamic forces, public sector ‘transformation’ and set out alternative strategies to regenerate public services. The event on 16 September 2015 was jointly organised by the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation, Spokesman Books, the Centre of the Study of Social and Global Justice and the University and College…

This ground-breaking report puts the health and social care sector at the centre of importance to achieve sustainable economic growth. Commissioned by New Directions, the definitive analysis covers Sefton MBC, Liverpool and Greater Manchester City Regions and the North West regional economy. It demonstrates the economic importance of the health and social care economy; sets…

Barnet Council is in process of privatising Education and Skills including the catering service to Capita Group or Cambridge Education (Mott MacDonald). Capita’s joint venture with Staffordshire County Council subcontracted 87% of the staff to Chartwells after just two years of a 20-year contract. Both Barnet bidders are likely to subcontract catering which will impose…

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…