Our City is NOT FOR SALE: The Impact of National, European and Global Policies (October 2002)
Published by Newcastle City Council Trade Unions, researched and written by the Centre for Public Services, the report analyses the current proposals and their implications:
Plans for outsourcing, Private Finance Initiatives (PFIs) and Strategic Partnerships, which threaten jobs, services and the local economy.
A move to cabinet government and the creation of partnership boards, quangos and trusts which will undermine local democracy. Going for Growth, a 20 year “regeneration” strategy which offers the private sector an opportunity to take over large parts of the city, creating privatised “urban villages” which will displace rather than benefit the existing communities. These changes are taking place as a result of Labour's so-called “modernisation” agenda – under which councils are judged by their willingness to embrace privatisation rather than the quality of their services or the opinion of the local community.
The A5 56 page pamphlet covers:
The councils track record and current position:
The Government's modernisation agenda;
Regeneration and Going for Growth – new privatised communities;
Consultants move in on Newcastle;
The corporatisation of the city: The challenge to democratic accountability and local control;
The implications of privatisation and marketisation of public services;
The European and global context;
An alternative modernisation strategy for Newcastle and nationally.