In autumn 2000, Salford City Council considered the possible outsourcing of financial and legal services. Although the Cabinet concluded that much of the potential savings from outsourcing financial services could be achieved by reorganisation, further work was carried out on four options.
Salford UNISON published a report ‘Privatising Salford? An Alternative to the Outsourcing of Council Services‘ in December 2000 from the Centre for Public Services. The aims of the report were to assess the implications of a strategic partnership for corporate support services, to identify the costs and risks of such a strategy and to inform Elected Members and staff of an alternative approach for Salford.
In summer 2001, a Social, Economic and Environmental Audit provided detailed evidence of the social, economic and environmental impact of options on the community, local economy, the labour market and the sub-regional economy. It included a detailed analysis of the residential location of staff and the impact of employment change. The report included an assessment of the proposals on community well-being and on particular groups in the community. In August 2001, the city council decided not to outsource services and to continue with its in-house improvement programme. 40 pages.