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…

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.

Barnet’s Future Shape programme has concluded that a single ‘vehicle’ for the delivery of all Council service was is not feasible. The Council now plans a three-stage process of consolidation, commissioning and provision under a ‘one Barnet public sector’ approach. This report is the joint trade union response to the second phase two Future Shape…

Over the last two years Bury UNISON, with the support of ESSU, has opposed the possible outsourcing of corporate services to a Strategic Service-delivery Partnership with a private contractor. This has included involvement in Council working groups to assess current performance, evidence to Overview and Scrutiny and producing briefings for staff and elected members. The…

The in-house bid of the First Steps Day Nursery, Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, has been successful following a procurement process and bids from private nurseries. The 89-place nursery moves into new accommodation in the PFI hospital development in May with a five year contract with a possible two year extension. ESSU advised…

Presentation at University & College Union North West conference on Marketisation of Education, Manchester, January 2009. Download copy of slides.

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.

A critique of the London Borough of Barnet proposals to radically change the responsibilities, role and functions of the Council for UNISON, GMB, NUT and NASUWT.

The PPP Database has been updated to include the South Tyneside MBC contract with BT which commenced on 1 October 2008. This has resulted in changes to the regional, employment and market share tables.