Cabinet Office mutuals reach century success
ONE HUNDRED new British businesses, including 12 in Yorkshire and the Humber, have spun out from the public sector and are delivering nearly £1.5bn of public services.
Mutuals now employ 35,000 people and have generated over 3,000 additional jobs in the last three years alone.
Public service mutuals are organisations which have left the public sector but continue to deliver public services. The 12 in Yorkshire and the Humber include Be Independent, a community equipment and response service in York; Bevan Healthcare CIC in Bradford; City Health Care Partnership CIC in Hull; and Spectrum Community Health in Wakefield.
The Cabinet Office has a £10m programme which has helped secure the UK’s status as a global leader in mutuals. The programme offers public sector employees professional expertise and advice to help them spin out.
Minister for the Cabinet Office Francis Maude said: “As part of our long-term plan for a stronger economy we are determined to drive up public sector productivity, which flatlined from 1997 to 2010. We need innovative new ways of delivering better services for less money, so we are helping public sector workers spin out to form mutuals.
“There are now 100 public sector mutuals across England and Wales. These are new businesses, employing 35,000 people and delivering services from community health to libraries. We know this is just the beginning of a massive transformation – we have even had interest from a fire service looking to mutualise.”
