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 (June 2012).
