Commenting on Cameron•À_s •À_Open Public Services•À_ white paper, Dave Prentis,
General Secretary of UNISON, said:
•À_If this is Cameron•À_s big idea, he needs to go back to the drawing board.
Today•À_s white paper is just another stepping stone towards Cameron•À_s same
old goal to privatise public services.
•À_The collapse of Southern Cross today gives a clear warning as to what
happens when you let the market run public services. The sale of elderly
care homes started out small, but it wasn•À_t long before private equity
companies got their teeth into the market. Now that the profits are less,
they want out, and thousands of elderly residents and their families are
bewildered and angry over their uncertain future.
•À_Not only does Cameron want to wash his hands of providing public services,
he wants cut price privatisation. He is removing protections on workers•À_
pay and conditions, creating a race to the bottom, so that services are more
attractive to private buyers.•À_
Notes for editors:
UNISON reports highlight dangers of privatisation.
* A UNISON survey by Paul Gosling exposes the shocking state in which
privatisation has left the care industry and the disasters waiting to
happen. The
evidence proves that privatisation is a risky experiment, as these councils
revealed, money was drained, standards were driven down, and they had little
control over the services.
* A survey by APSE, for UNISON, reveals that half of councils who had
outsourced their services had to bring them back in-house because of
financial failures and inefficiency. 60% of council officers surveyed said
the need to improve efficiency and reduce service costs had led them to
consider bringing services back in-house. After cost, 44% of respondents
said there was a need to improve service quality.
* A UNISON report – •À_Mutual Benefit?•À_ – reveals that increased marketisation
will lead to a hike in bureaucracy. Mutuals are in danger of being bolted
onto a competitive market for services, pitting them against private sector
providers. Community-based mutuals will struggle to compete, as private
companies undercut them, and outright privatisation of public services is
the likely outcome.