Barnet council, in north London, called itself the country’s first ‘easyCouncil’ in 2013 when it announced it would only provide the statutory minimum of services, outsourcing everything from disability and motorways to planning and procurement through contractors Capita . Entering the private sector at a cost of £500m over 10 years, councilors claimed, would allow them to reduce the number of direct staff from 3,200 to just 322 and deliver better public services for less money. But the council, whose Finchley constituency was famously represented by Margaret Thatcher but which swung to Labor for the first time in May’s local elections, has now voted to end the policy. Condemning years of outsourcing as a ‘failed experiment’ and ‘the deadly experiment of council outsourcing’, Barnet Council leader Barry Rawlings said: ‘This model of governance only guarantees savings if other councils get on board: Barnet it was going to be a showcase. Instead, the council has paid £229m more for Capita’s core service contracts than was originally contracted.’ Barnet council leader Barry Rawlings with Keir Starmer after Labor won control of the council from the Tories in May 2022. Photo: Hollie Adams/Getty Images Services had already begun to be restored domestically under the previous Conservative government after a series of disasters. In 2017, the council was forced to admit its finances were in such a state that the regulator fined Capita, while the poor condition of the borough’s roads became a big issue in local elections. In 2018, a Capita employee working for Barnet was jailed for 62 counts of fraud totaling £2m after his crimes were discovered – although the loss was not picked up by Capita or the council itself, but by the employee’s bank . Capita was forced to award the financial loss to the council. In the same year, the council admitted it would have to ax services after revealing a £62m financial black hole: exactly the fate the outsourcing plan had claimed to protect against. The problems continued. Resident and blogger John Dix reviewed the invoices submitted by Capita. According to Dix, a parent calling the library to check if a Harry Potter is in stock is charged by Capita at £8 per call, while training for senior officers is charged at £1,200 per session. By next year, however, most of the services outsourced by the previous Conservative government will come back under direct council control. Rawlings said this would save taxpayers money and return 370 employees to direct employment by the council. The remainder of the Capita contract will run until 2026. Subscribe to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7am. BST The decision was condemned by Cllr Dan Thomas, leader of the local Conservative group. “Barnet Labor has made an ideological decision to bring back services currently managed by Capita, despite the fact that this decision will hit the bank accounts of Barnet taxpayers,” he claimed. “It is clear that this decision is purely political.” Rawlings disputed this, pointing to a report by Barnet Council’s policy and resources committee which found little difference – and a potential benefit of £204,000 a year – financially between extending the contract for these services and bringing them back in-house. A Capita spokesman said: “We will deliver further value for money to local taxpayers as we work with the council to continue to deliver top quality services that make the borough a better place to live, work and study for everyone.”
