Council jobs to go out of county?

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 10th Jun 2009

Up to 180 council jobs could be relocated outside of North Somerset under a controversial privatisation plan agreed yesterday by Council chiefs.

Under the plan staff working in human resources, payroll, finance, information technology, business improvement and elements of property and asset management will be transferred to a private sector firm. However, Mike Bell, the Liberal Democrat Prospective MP for Weston-super-Mare, has warned that the decision could see the jobs leave North Somerset altogether.

Mr Bell said: "Around the country this kind of outsourcing has not just seen the jobs move from council to private sector, but it has also seen the jobs move elsewhere in the country.

"For example, Wrexham Council jobs ended up in Chester and jobs at Westminster City Council were moved to Scotland. Under the plan North Somerset is forcing through, there are no guarantees that the jobs will stay in Weston and North Somerset and not be outsourced elsewhere in the longer term.

"Private firms are driven by the bottom line, not by loyalty to local residents. I am all for looking at creative ways of delivering services to cut the cost to the taxpayer, but it is difficult to see how the taxpayer wins if hundreds of jobs end up miles away."

Mr Bell has written to the Chief Executive of North Somerset Council to seek assurances that under the procurement procedure for any private sector deal, keeping jobs in Weston will be guaranteed.