Author Archives: Cat Hobbs

The Independent View: Outsourcing companies aren’t trusted – Liberal Democrats must show they are taking a stand

By Cat Hobbs | Tue 13th May 2014 - 4:15 pm

Last week We Own It released new polling which shows that outsourcing companies are trusted less than central government, the civil service, the police service and the NHS. 64% of the public distrust companies like Atos, Capita, G4S and Serco while only 21% trust them. Only 16% think there is currently adequate regulation of private companies running public services. Political parties ignore public reactions like these at their peril.

We Own It is an organisation that campaigns for public service users and for public ownership. Last Thursday Serco held its AGM and we took the opportunity to hold a protest, ‘Sick of Serco’, to show how much of the public feels about outsourcing.

Posted in News and The Independent View | Tagged serco and we own it | 28 Comments

The Independent View: The Public Service Users Bill is an opportunity for Lib Dems to show whose side they’re on

By Cat Hobbs | Tue 7th January 2014 - 10:46 am

In 2011, Nick Clegg strongly backed the government’s ‘open public services’ agenda. In practice, this was used as a figleaf for outsourcing everything from prisons, probation and the NHS to council services. Corporations like G4S, Serco, Atos and Capita have won billions of pounds in contracts yet they are hugely unpopular with the public and the scandals keep coming.

Clegg also promised to ‘take a hard line against the kind of blanket privatisation which was pursued by governments in the past’. Yet the coalition has sold off the Royal Mail, …

Posted in The Independent View | Tagged public services and we own it | 10 Comments