Suffolk County Council to outsource virtually all services

Suffolk County Council has agreed to cut its £1.1 billion budget by 30 per cent by outsourcing its services, the BBC have reported.

The aim is to turn the authority into an enabling council, which commissions others to carry out the public services.

This would be the first time a local authority would end up providing virtually no services directly itself, and will be watched closely by other councils looking to make savings.

Unions have warned the plan puts a huge number of the council's 27,000 jobs at risk, as just a few hundred people could be kept on to manage the contracts.

Services could start to be outsourced later this year, with others in three phases beginning in April 2011.

Under the New Strategic Direction, almost all council services will be offloaded to social enterprises or companies over the next few years.

Local councils across the country are trying to find ways to save billions as part of the coalition government's drive to cut the deficit, with some considering sharing services.

The union Unison had written to every councillor asking them to consider the impact that scaling back would have on people and the services they rely on.

Council leader Jeremy Pembroke said: "This decision was made with consideration to the financial deficit in the public sector and the coalition government's priority to reduce the deficit and the size of the state."

"Now that full council has debated the issue and agreed with the future model for the county council, we can begin to talk with the people of Suffolk so they can be involved in the shaping of services for the future."

Further information:
BBC
Suffolk County Council