Southwest One Deal, Unitarisation Moves, Liverpool Developer Loans, Oxford Borrowing Cap

Southwest One staff may return to council
Taunton and Deane Borough Council may bring back in house 40 staff after a review of an outsourcing contract. A final decision will be made in November on moving away from the arrangement with Southwest One, which was set up in 2007. The outsourcing company and the council (along with Somerset County Council which Southwest One also works for) had been to the courts after the councils claimed that the company was failing to deliver on promised savings. Somerset settled the case in July for £5.9m.

Unitarisation argument gains weight in Bucks
An Aylesbury Vale District Council committee is considering the costs and benefits of unitarisation. Buckinghamshire has four districts and one county council. Another of the districts, Wycombe District Council, also recently decided to look into unitarisation. An independent councillor for Aylesbury Vale said that the council’s frontline services were at risk and the council was “in danger of spending a disproportionate amount of available funds on overheads”. However the council’s leader recently said it was the wrong time to be considering creating a unitary authority.

… And Leics
Leicester County Council is also to commission research into unitarisation following requests from local MPs. The county has £110m in savings to find over the next five years.

Liverpool looks to support developers
Liverpool’s deputy mayor, Paul Brant, has called on his council to lend from reserves and borrowings to private developers to help kick start the economy. Liverpool City Council recently lent £25m to a fledgling property developer to buy and refurbish an old dockside HMRC building, spent £2m on the former Royal Insurance Building to help convert it into a hotel and bought Everton’s Finch Farm training ground for its rental income. “While regeneration is not a statutory core service most councils regard it as a cornerstone,” said Brant.

Oxford City Deal requests increased borrowing
Oxford City Council has asked for its borrowing cap to be increased from £37m to £121m as part of its City Deal. The extra money would be used to build up to 2000 new homes.