Austerity, political control and supplier selection in English local government: implications for autonomy in multi-level systems

Abstract

Analysis of 60,000 contracts awarded by English councils between 2015-19 reveals that austerity constraints are a key predictor of councils outsourcing services to forprofit suppliers, regardless of their political control. Conservative Party-controlled councils are also more likely to contract with for-profit suppliers, although we found no link between Labour-controlled councils and not-for-profit suppliers, nor evidence that political or budgetary factors influence whether councils contract with providers based in their own region. We argue that centrally imposed funding cuts, and a belief that for-profit suppliers represent a cheaper option, could be overriding Labour Party councils' ideological preference for not-for-profit providers.

Prospects for municipal stewardship as a national policy: A scoping review and thematic synthesis

“…It can be argued, therefore, that CWB needs to be ingrained in the practices of local administrations and various institutions – in the case of Scotland, this includes anchor institutions such as the NHS, Universities and state development agencies, and anchor organisations, such as co-operatives, social enterprises and other community organisations – to promote partnerships and collaborative working practices. Indeed, as noted by Eckersley et al (2022), partisan politics affect decision making, in terms of outsourcing and supplier selection decisions in a local government context (Bel and Fageda, 2017) as well as decisions over the spatial distribution of local authority contracts (Eckersley et al, 2023). Eckersley et al (2022) further suggest that the Scottish Parliament’s Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 imposes a sustainability duty on contracting authorities by making them consider how their procurement processes can ‘ improve the economic, social, and environmental wellbeing of the authority’s area ’.…”

Financial resilience! A comparative study of three lower tier authorities in England

“…There is also a lack of research into supplier selection in local authorities. Eckersley et al (2021) have considered the relationship between austerity, political control, and supplier selection in the context of English local government. They argued that centrally imposed funding cuts and belief for-profit suppliers represent a cheaper option could in some cases override ideological preferences of politicians.…”