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Cathy Davis, Department of Environment and Life Sciences, University of Salford, UK in Housing Studies, 2012: “…the volume provides a wealth of detail about how neoliberalist approaches are subverting and replacing state provision, predominantly in the UK as well as other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. Three introductory chapters outline the ‘deepening crisis’ from 2007–2008; the continuing ‘neoliberal transformation’ of welfare state services and the growth of corporate welfare.” http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02673037.2012.655041

The Mutation of Privatisation: A critical assessment of new community and individual rights, European Services Strategy Unit – Research Report No. 5, Dexter Whitfield – has been published by Spokesman Books, ISBN 978-0-85124-817-2, price £8.95, order online:

In the mid-1980s, prompted by the passing of Single European Act, the European Union embarked upon an ambitious programme of liberalisation to complete the Single Market. This included the opening up of many national industries to pan-European competition. EU public procurement law has been a crucial pillar to this agenda as EU institutions have sought to encourage cross-border, pan-European purchasing of public contracts. The paper examines the scope of EU procurement law, public markets vs public services, UK experience of outsourcing, PPPs and employment issues.

New community rights to bid, buy, build, challenge and provide are enshrined in legislation and Coalition policy. The government is also extending existing individual rights to buy and to personal budgets. This paper examines the objectives and scope of the new community rights and proposes a typology of public sector reform rights. It highlights the fundamental conflicts between ‘rights’, ‘choice’ and ‘contract’ cultures and localism. It assesses the conflicts and contradictions between community and commissioning, participation and empowerment, and the impact on democratic accountability, public finance, employment, equalities, the changing role of the state and community, voluntary and non-profit organisations. Includes a typology of rights, the new community rights, new pathways to privatisation and the essence of a contract culture.

“This is not so much a ‘hollowing out’ of the state, but a fundamental redirection to finance and manage markets and collusion in the deepening of corporate welfare.” Chartist, July/August 2012.

The London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA) has reversed its decision to award a ten-year 999 Fire Control managed services contract to Capita plc. Instead the LFEPA will enter into a contract for a replacement mobilising system only. This means that the 120 control staff will remain employed by the Authority. ESSU produced a detailed analysis making the case against outsourcing for the FBU, UNISON and GMB late last year.

UNISON has called on the London Borough of Barnet to immediately abandon its plan to become a Commissioning Council. The report by the European Services Strategy Unit (ESSU) documents the fundamental weaknesses in each stage of the procurement process for two large strategic partnerships of up to £1billion value and nearly 1,000 staff. The report documents the Council’s commissioning of two large strategic partnership contracts, assesses the Council’s reorganisation to become a Commissioning Council and examines the impact of this model for service users, elected members, staff and community and voluntary organisations. The Costs and Consequences of a One Barnet Commissioning Council study also revealed a systemic failure in contract management in Adult Services and proposes an alternative strategy.

Excessive profits obtained by PPP companies and banks is again in the news. The first evidence on the scale of excessive PFI profits and the growth the secondary market was detailed in Global Auction of Public Assets by Dexter Whitfield and followed by a more detailed research in The £10bn Sale of Shares in PPP Companies: New source of profits for builders and banks, ESSU Research Paper No. 4, by Dexter Whitfield in January 2011. This details the news coverage and links to reports.

PFI firms should be forced to share excessive profits with councils and health trusts Daily Telegraph, 2 May 2012.

PAC slams ‘excessively high’ private returns on some PFI projects Public Finance, 2 May 2012.

Call for ‘radical’ change of policy on PFI Financial Times, 2 May 2012.

Call for radical rethink of PFI The Independent, 2 May 2012.

The current model of PFI is unsustainable, says PAC New Statesman, 3 May 2012.

MPs lay boot into PFI again The Construction Index, 3 May 2012.

Written evidence was submitted to the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee and the Treasury Committee in June 2011. Following these two reports the National Audit Office addressed some of the key issues in Equity investment in privately financed projects, February 2012. A second PAC on PFI equity was published by the PAC on May 1 2012.

“‘Payment by results’ has become the new performance management mantra. It is intended to incentivise contractors, with payment conditional on the completion of agreed outputs or outcomes. There are currently two such payment and reward models: the social impact bond mechanism and phased incentive payments.” This article examines the implications of this approach, the growth of ‘social markets’, incentive payment contracts and explains why it is a high risk strategy; pages 22-23, in Critical Reflections: social and criminal justice in the first year of Coalition government, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, March 2012.