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APSE Report on Reshaping

UNISON is today publishing an independent report which is highly critical of Torbay Council’s plans that are likely to lead to the damaging privatisation of many of the services it currently provides. The report, produced for UNISON by APSE (Association for Public Service Excellence) says the Council’s so-called “Reshaping” strategy, drawn up with the help of highly-paid management consultants Grant Thornton:

  • tries to make a case for an almost complete programme of privatisation based on virtually no hard evidence,
  • will certainly lead to reduced accountability and, maybe ultimately, the redundancy of local democracy in Torbay,
  • makes assumptions about the benefits of competition that fly in the face of both experience and how markets actually work in public services, and
  • could breach legal requirements on the Council, such as the direct statutory duty to protect children

    • UNISON wants a full public consultation, beginning with a major stakeholder conference which it is organising on Friday 18th July at the Grand Hotel in Torquay, involving leading representatives from the business community, voluntary and community organisations, and service users.

    UNISON is now calling on the Council to work with local government support agencies like APSE, along with its managers, service users, workforce and trade unions, to devise a fully-costed plan for how in-house, directly provided and democratically accountable services can be improved to deliver for the people of Torbay.

    Read the Full Report for yourself. Click on the file below to view it in your browser window

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    APSEreport.pdf110.37 KB