The missing implementation of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 by Kensington and Chelsea council is hard to understand without knowing the context (Council’s emergency planning stalled, Letters, 21 June). Outsourcing in this borough has not been restricted to property management. The much-lauded money-saving “tri-borough agreement” included Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham and Westminster councils. This was planned to start in October 2013 and extended the existing shared services partnership to include “total facilities management”. This involved awarding Amey the 10-year £150m contract. It included building management and security, cleaning, repairs and maintenance – and, crucially, “statutory compliance, including health and safety and environmental legislation”, among other services.
Eric Pickles, then local government minister, hoped it would provide a model for other local authorities suffering budget pressures. This fitted in well with the philosophy of making councils service commissioners rather than providers and, as the leader of Kensington and Chelsea predicted at the time, “we will be able to save money, protect frontline services and keep taxes low”. Even if these contracts are worth the money – and the jury is still out on this – one of the most important of the unintended consequences of outsourcing is the total annihilation of expertise among those commissioning the contract. Without appropriate in-house expertise, contracts cannot be effectively monitored or even understood. That’s why professional officers and, yes, experts, matter so much. And not just in local government.
Judy Downey
London
• I was pleased to read that many Grenfell Tower families will be rehoused in a luxury block nearby (Report, 22 June). But in the same article it was suggested that the facilities – swimming pool, sauna, gym and private cinema – may be “out of bounds”. I would be devastated on their behalf were this to be the case – more social injustice; akin to making these new residents wear orange suits?
Paul Garrod
Portsmouth
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