Samenvatting
This paper briefly traces the history of compulsory competitive tendering (CCT) for local authority services and describes the approach taken by Berkshire County Council. A variety of reasons led Berkshire to `externalise' the work of the highways, planning and waste department before CCT legislation was in place. Existing staff were asked to write specifications for their work area and a client/contractor split was identified. The tendering and transfer process is described. The contract was awarded to Babtie and the staff transferred, 20 of the 300 staff transferred becoming `client side'. Successes and failures of the first Year are described. It is suggested that savings of one million pounds were made in the first year.