I WAS surprised and disturbed to note from your reports on April 24 and 25 that the council intends to privatise its Direct Labour Organisation.
This cannot be good news for council tax payers, since the DLO is legally required to tender, in competition with private contractors, for the work which they carry out and, since they win most of the contracts, they must be more than competitive with the private sector. This is hardly surprising, since there are no shareholders to pay.
The council is spending £750,000 on setting up these contracts, and even the council's deputy chief executive has stated that no money will be saved. It is hard, therefore to escape the conclusion that this unnecessary move is politically motivated by a Conservative council.
G THEODORE HEATH.
Shaw.
Swindon
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