Insourcing is a key plank in Labour’s strategy to raise worker rights, improve the power of local government, and advance the ambitious agenda of community wealth building.

To this end, Labour has recently released a report – ‘Democratising Public Services: A Plan for Twenty-First Century Insourcing‘ – which commits to bringing about an insourcing revolution.

Under Labour, a Local Public Services Act will be passed, which will make in-house delivery of services the new normal.

As John McDonnell noted in his announcement speech:

insourcing is the best example of ‘community wealth-building’. There is no better way for wealth to be fostered and protected within a local area, than by ensuring key public services are delivered by councils, employing local staff… Insourcing is an essential part of a programme for practical socialism, which delivers people’s basic needs and improves people’s everyday lives.

This is Labour’s plan going forward. At the local level, many councils are already pushing this agenda as much as they can – as a recent Guardian report showed:

After 40 years of awarding contracts to the private sector, insourcing is now the way for local authorities to cut costs and improve quality

This makes sense both economically and electorally – survey work carried out by the polling company Survation and the Association for Public Service Excellence suggests the public would welcome more of their taxpayer pound going into supporting local economies and local councils having more of a say over what happens in their local areas.

When Labour is elected nationally, we will bring about an insourcing revolution. Many Labour councils are already engaging with insourcing – some useful resources to bring about this agenda are provided below.

Rebuilding Capacity: The case for insourcing public contracts – APSE

Out of Contract: Time to move on from the ‘love in’ with outsourcing and PFI – David Walker and John Tizard

Out of Contract: A Toolkit for Local Authority Contracting – David Walker and John Tizard

Responsible Buying in Public Services: A guide for UNISON branches working to eradicate abuses in global supply chains – UNISON

Post Carillion: Contractor Insolvency and EU procurement rules. What is your room to manoeuvre? – APSE

Insourcing update: The value of returning local authority services in-house in an era of budget constraints – APSE and UNISON

Working at the frontline of austerity The Ensuring Council and Workforce Planning – APSE

Redefining neighbourhoods: A future beyond austerity? – APSE