Unison General secretary Dave Prentis has said that taxpayers’ money had been ‘wasted’ during the outsourcing of public services.

‘The whole drawn-out, costly exercise is often a recipe for disaster. Many employers have to bring services back in-house after money, quality and efficiency has gone down the drain.

‘The government’s Open public services white paper can only lead to the public paying a higher price for fraud.’

Unison’s full response to the white paper is due at the end of September.