Forty per cent of councils have not yet decided how they are going to make the spending cuts needed, according to a survey published today.
The survey of local authority chief executives and other senior managers also revealed that a quarter do not expect to reach their savings targets by 2014.
Interserve, the support services and construction group, commissioned YouGovStone to interview 101 council chief executives and directors.
The research showed that on average councils expected to increase their outsourcing levels from 20% in 2011 to 34% by 2014.
Just over half of councils (58%) said outsourcing was critical to helping them achieve their savings target.
Barriers to outsourcing were also identified. Just under half of councils (44%) cited political concerns; 28% lack of capacity; and 27% lack of skills.
One chief executive told researchers that the level of cuts demanded were ‘unmanageable’ within the ‘current service delivery envelope’, adding: ‘There will have to be some fairly dramatic cuts to services, including essential services, to accommodate the cuts. Government will have to get used to this concept – we have been cutting back over the years and it is impossible to keep cutting back and deliver the same level of service.’
Adrian Ringrose, Interserve chief executive, said the research highlighted the reticence of some local authorities to tackle some of the big areas of spend.
‘Delivering savings to the extent necessary will require more radical change than simply increasing outsourcing levels,’ he said.
‘Councils clearly indicate that they are interested in procuring best-value solutions rather than adopting a purely cost-based approach, yet they don’t appear willing to undertake a full review of their service delivery.’
