'No appetite' for Wakefield Council to privatise more services, chief executive says

The South Kirkby waste depot, run by Renewi on behalf of the council.

Wakefield Council is unlikely to hand out any more big contracts to private firms for delivering public services soon, the organisation's chief executive has suggested.

Andrew Balchin told councillors on Monday there was "no appetite" to "extend outsourcing any further".

The council has previously handed out millions to private firms, including to Engie, to run and maintain its buildings, and to Renewi to handle local waste.

Both of those contracts are long-term deals.

Andrew Balchin became the council's chief executive in 2020.

For decades, the public sector has outsourced services where it is believed the private sector can deliver them more efficiently.

But at council level this is beginning to change, with more local authorities across the country bringing jobs back in house to save money.

Speaking at an audit committee meeting, Mr Balchin indicated that Wakefield was likely to follow that trend, with "value for money" at the forefront of its decisions.

He said: "We'll be looking over the next year or two at whether we can deliver some resources from our own provision.

Mr Balchin said he did not see outsourcing being extended "any further".

"We will be looking at whether we can do things in-house as opposed to commissioning externally.

"I don’t think in some of the big areas like adult social care and children’s services we’ll be able to replace all of that provision ourselves.

"But there’s a constant questioning of whether we’re getting enough value for money."

In 2018, problems with the council's deal with Engie came to light, as it was revealed the firm was being fined tens of thousands of pounds for failing to deliver about 900 contractual obligations.

Engie had been given a £200m deal by the council two years earlier to look after public buildings, in what was the biggest privatisation deal in Wakefield's history at the time.

The company subsequently improved its performance amid intense scrutiny over the subsequent months.

Mr Balchin said it shouldn't be "taken for granted" that services the council has previously privatised will remain so "forever".

He added: "There’s no appetite from our elected members to extend outsourcing any further.

"That’s their political judgement for our members to make.

"But I don’t see outsourcing being extended any further."

Local Democracy Reporting Service