Dexter Whitfield has received the 2011 Social Policy Association Award for Outstanding Contribution from a Non-Academic. The award “celebrates his work in campaigning, research and advocacy for fairer UK state services over 40 years and, in particular, his defence of welfare services against privatisation and marketisation”.

The vast profits being made by contractors and banks selling equity in PFI project companies was exposed by the BBC File on 4 programme on 13 June. The programme was based on The £10bn Sale of Shares in PPP Companies: New source of profits for builders and banks, and earlier evidence in Global Auction of…

An article in *Local Government Chronicle*, 9 June 2011, by Dexter Whitfield, describes commissioning as a wolf in sheep’s clothing because it will lead to private monopoly, commercialised services, agendas dominated by the vested interests of private contractors and little transparency. Sets out an alternative approach. www.lgcplus.com

The London Borough of Barnet plans to transfer Adult Services to a Local Authority Trading Company (LATC) together with Barnet Homes, the Arms Length Management Organisation managing the council housing stock. About 160 Adult Services staff will transfer to the LATC. The LATC model is intended to commercialise Barnet’s provision of learning disability and physical…

A short video of a BBC Southwest programme about Southwest One, Somerset County Council’s strategic service-delivery partnership with IBM where only £3.3m of the promised £200m savings have been achieved since 2007. Includes revealing interview with Leader of the Council about renegotiating the contract. (Takes a few seconds to get on to piece and for…

Examines the recent Cross Border Healthcare Directive, the role of the European Court of Justice and the ‘Europeanisation of Healthcare’. The introduction of EU law into healthcare presents many problems. The most pressing being that EU institutions have sought to apply the ‘economic’ rights enshrined in the EU Treaty’s free movement law to national healthcare…

The Briefings will examine the impact of EU liberalisation and competition policy on the provision of public services in Britain. No 1 – European Union Competition Policy and the Liberalisation of Postal Services and No 2 – The Impact of European Union Competition Policy on Public Transport Policy and Provision in the UK, both by…

Following various reviews the County Council has decided to renegotiate the public private partnership contract with IBM and Mouchel just three years into the ten-year £400m contract. The Council wishes to bring some services and functions back in-house, change the governance of the JVC, achieve further savings and simplify the contract. The Council considered terminating…

Two articles in The Press, Barnet (13 January and 27 January 2011) on the potential effects of the sale of equity in PPP companies, focusing on Barnet General Hospital which featured in the ESSU Research Report – £10bn Sale of Shares in PPP Companies.

‘A Very Private Partnership’ in The Guardian Public section, Monday 17 January, has detailed coverage of the sale of shares in PPP companies by Jo Adetunji. It has a revealing response from HSBC Infrastructure. http://www.guardianpublic.co.uk/private-sector-profiteering-from-ppp