By Tash Shifrin
Trade union Unison has claimed that Essex County Council’s plan to outsource ‘any or all’ of its services in a £5.4bn deal is illegal on nine different counts.
Trade union Unison has claimed that Essex County Council’s plan to outsource ‘any or all’ of its services in a £5.4bn deal is illegal on nine different counts.The union has written to Local Government Secretary Hazel Blears and the district auditor to highlight its concerns. It is threatening to take the council to court over what could be Britain’s largest local authority outsourcing contract.
Essex has reduced its short list of potential private sector partners to two consortiums, headed by IBM and T-Systems. The outsourcing plan is due to be debated by councillors in April.
Unison regional officer Kumar Sandy said: ‘We are taking legal opinions on the legality of the conduct of Essex County Council in this process, starting with a breach of its own constitution. We believe that the council has acted illegally on no fewer than nine different counts, including several breaches of the statutory guidance and European law.’
The union claims Essex has breached its own constitution, because councillors have not scrutinised the procurement process, and has ignored statutory guidance. It alleges that the council has been ‘reckless’ in proceeding without an options appraisal or business case.
But council leader Lord Hanningfield hit back, saying: ‘Unison is saying absolutely nothing new, and is just scaremongering by talking about numbers and figures that have no factual basis. No decision has been made and it is clear that Unison is using our ambition to save council tax payers’ money… as a recruitment exercise.’
