Evidence against contracting out

The latest "transformation" of public services announced last week in the national press by the coalition government is not a transformation at all ( Report , 21 February). It is the continuation of an ideological obsession with dismantling the UK's public services that started in the 1980s. This strategy flies in the face of the mountain of evidence that contracting out public services does not deliver benefits for the public and has, in some instances, resulted in a catastrophic decline in the quality of our public services. Is the government willing to overlook the strong links between the overwhelming number of deaths from MRSA in our hospitals and the contracting out of hospital cleaning? Is the government also willing to overlook rail transport safety and the collapse of Railtrack? Is the government willing to overlook the adverse impact of contracting out on low-paid women and BME workers who provide the majority of our public services? Even if it is prepared to do this, the government must not repeat the mistake of failing to complete an equality impact assessment, which it has admitted in court was not done for the emergency budget. In the light of these concerns we ask the government to produce the research evidence that the private sector can provide public services to the high standards that the British public deserve. Dr Hazel Conley, Queen Mary University of London Dr Peter Scott, University of Portsmouth Prof Stephanie Tailby, University of the West of England Prof Roger Seifert, University of Wolverhampton Dr Kim Mather, University of the West of England Dr Sian Moore, London Metropolitan University Dr Jane Holgate, Leeds University Dr John Bone, University of Aberdeen Prof Mark Stuart, Leeds University Prof Phil Taylor, University of Strathclyde Dr Helen Richardson, University of Salford Dr Kate Hardy, University of Leeds Prof Gregor Gall, University of Hertfordshire Prof Patricia Findlay, University of Strathclyde Dr Ian Roper, University of Middlesex Prof Geraldine Healy, Queen Mary University of London Dr Dave Lyddon, Keele University Dr Nick Creaby-Attwood, Northumbria University Dr Rachel Cohen, University of Surrey Prof Linda Clarke, University of Westminster Dave Napier, London Metropolitan University Liam Campling, Queen Mary University of London Prof Matthew Hannah, Aberystwyth University Dr Kelvin Mason, Centre for Alternative Technology Dr Amit Rai, Queen Mary University of London Prof Sonia McKay, London Metropolitan University Dr David Nash, Cardiff University Dr Leonard Holmes, Roehampton University Prof Miguel Martinez Lucio, University of Manchester Prof Rosemary Lucas, Manchester Metropolitan University Rowland Curtis, Queen Mary University of London Kevin Jones Goldsmith's College, University of London Dr Bernadette Kamleitner, Queen Mary University of London Prof Ralph Darlington, University of Salford Dr Graham Symon, Greenwich University Dr Ahu Tatli, Queen Mary University of London Eleanor Kirk, University of Strathclyde Steve Davies, University of Cardiff Dr Ian Greer Leeds University Elinor Predota, Newcastle University Dr Mike Richardson, University of the West of England Dr Peter Samuel, University of Nottingham Peter McGunnigle, Oxford Brookes University Dr Judi Gannon, Oxford Brookes University Dr Anne-Marie Greene, University of Warwick Dr Daniel King, Nottingham Trent University Dr Peter Hamilton, University of Durham Prof Greg Bamber, Monash University, Melbourne Dr Lefteris Kretsos, Coventry University Dr Steve Vincent, Leeds University Sue Abbott, Northumbria University Melanie Crofts, University of Northampton Dr Heather Connolly, University of Warwick Dr Vlad Myhnenko, University of Nottingham Dr Andrew Smith University of Bradford Prof Gill Kirton, Queen Mary University of London Prof Martin Upchurch, Middlesex University Dr Ben Selwyn, University of Sussex Prof Watterson, Andrew University of Stirling Prof Andrew Danford, University of the West of England Prof Denise Ferreira da Silva, Queen Mary University of London Dr, Andrew Cumbers, University of Glasgow Peter Cressey, University of Bath Prof Phil James, Oxford Brookes University Dr Elizabeth Lawrence, Sheffield Hallam University Dr Mark Gilman, University of Kent Dr Jenny Tomlinson, Leeds University Dr Ozram Onaran, Middlesex University Prof Dave Lewis, Middlesex University Douglas Martin, Strathclyde University Dr Nicola Ansell, Brunel University Dr Mark Paterson, University of Exeter William Hunter, Sunderland University Tessa Wright, Queen Mary University of London Prof Jacky Brine, University of the West of England Prof Christine Cooper, University of Strathclyde Dr Margaret Page, University of the West of England Dr Matt Vidal, Kings College London Dr Vaughan Ellis, Edinburgh Napier University Dr Sue Durbin, University of the West of England Prof Paul Stewart, University of Strathclyde Prof Anna Pollert, University of the West of England Aaron Franks, University of Glasgow Prof Ann-Marie Bathmaker, University of the West of England Jackie Jones, University of the West of England Dr Maurizio Atzeni, Loughborough University Prof Dr Valeria Pulignano, Centre for Sociological Research, Leuven Dr Suzy Fitzpatrick, Manchester Metropolitan University Sanjiv Sachdev, Kingston University Dr Richard Saundry, University of Central Lancashire Dr Nickolaus Hammer, University of Leicester Dr Anita Hammer, De Montfort University Dr Jamie Gough, Sheffield University Dr Dean Smart, University of the West of England Dr Enda Hannon, Kingston University Anna Krzywoszynska, Sheffield University Prof Peter Fleming, Queen Mary University of London Prof Annabel Mark, Middlesex University Dr Peter Dwyer, Ruskin College Oxford Dr Matt Vidal, King College, London Dr David Etherington, Middlesex University Dr Deborah Foster, Cardiff University Dr Liza Griffin, University of Westminster Jo Grady, University of Leicester Dr Tony Bennett, Sheffield Hallam University Bob Smale, University of Brighton Prof Irena Grugulis, Durham University George Bell, South Bank University Sue Ledwith, Ruskin College, Oxford Dr Ian Clark, University of Birmingham Tracy Walsh, Ruskin College, Oxford Paul Brook, Manchester Metropolitan University Dr Rebecca Gumbrell-McCormick, Birkbeck, University of London Michael Pye, University of Hertfordshire Dr Matthew Waring, University of Wales Institute, Cardiff