Sir – The Tory county council is tearing the heart out of local government. Councillor Ian Hudspeth’s answer to everything is to privatise it.
We have already lost the home-carers service and the youth workers.
The highways are not repaired and the potholes are unfilled by Atkins. Carillion, another private firm, runs everything from buildings to school meals. Now the Tory cabinet plans to outsource education services to schools.
So-called back office functions including human resources, IT and pensions are to be outsourced. Instead of public service, the ethos is profit first and last.
Oxford City Council has shown that using co-operatives and keeping services in-house delivers better and more cost-effective recycling and leisure services. The same could be delivered for the county council. But for the ruling Conservative Independent Alliance, dogma comes before common sense.
John Tanner, City councillor for Littlemore and county councillor for Isis, Board member for a Cleaner Greener Oxford
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