Due to the impending budget cuts that require the authority to save £400m over the next four years, the official auditor for Birmingham City Council has urged it to consider outsourcing refuse collection.

Whilst this has proved successful for other authorities, any future outsourcing plans will need to be managed carefully by Birmingham CC as there have been reports of several outsourcing issues in the past. These include problems surrounding the Service Birmingham and Amey contracts and the fact that they decided to bring back its call centre from Service Birmingham (partnership between Birmingham City Council and Capita set up in April 2006).

As Europe’s largest authority, Birmingham City Council faces major financial challenges and outsourcing may help to reduce spending.

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