The High Court Judge ruling on the Barnet Council vs Maria Nash case regarding the outsourcing of services, confirmed that the council should have done more to consult with the public.

The ruling this week, which saw Barnet Council win on a technicality, would have been secured by the Barnet Alliance and Maria Nash, if they had succeeded in bringing the case earlier.

NOA Chief Executive Kerry Hallard said “Justice Underhill’s comments leave other councils’ outsourcing ambitions in a precarious state. While today will be seen as a victory within Barnet Council, it raises issues of transparency that will have big implications for any public sector agency who needs to save money without cutting services.

She added that: “Justice Underhill actually said Barnet Council ‘had not complied with its obligations’ towards its people and that it ‘‘never set out to consult about its outsourcing programme at all.”

The failure of the council to consult effectively with the public has led to calls for increased consultation from the outsourcing industry with the public regarding the delivery of services.

The NOA’s Kerry Hallard said: “Having an industry standard benchmark level of public consultation would allow negotiations and requests for proposals to be conducted safe in the knowledge that the rug will not be pulled out from under them in the High Court, and may go some way to more positively changing perceptions about outsourcing.”

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