“Assessment is pretty much the same whether you are assessing pot holes or care for the elderly,” says Essex county council leader

National newspapers are covering the clutch of big privatisation moves by local councils. There are several articles in the Times recently. In "Councils poised to hand running of care and education to private firms", Lord Hanningfield, leader of Essex County Council, which offered a contract of £5.4bn to private contractors (shortlisted are IBM and TI Systems), is interviewed:

'...savings could be made by streamlining functions such as assessment, human resources, IT and finance across all services. “Assessment is pretty much the same whether you are assessing pot holes or care for the elderly,” he said. “Local government has to change and do things differently if it is to meet the growing expectations and needs of the people it serves. This is not about reducing services but looking at different ways of delivering them.'

Well, that certainly would be a different approach to elder care.
Lord Hanningfield failed to consult Essex residents or councillors about the tender. In the light of this,

'Unison, the public sector union, is considering bringing a legal challenge against the county, claiming that it has breached EU and domestic law.'

If the Hanningfield vision of assessing the care needs of the elderly like they were holes in the road doesn't appeal, come to the meeting tomorrow to discuss Barnet Future Shape, and the campaign to put public services before private profit.

Wednesday 4 March, 7-9pm, 'Barnet residents: We Shape our own Future', at Barnet Multicultural Community Centre, Algernon Road, NW4 3TA. Map: tinyurl.com/launch4mar