Austerity, political control and supplier selection in English local government: implications for autonomy in multi-level systems

Eckersley, P.; Flynn, A.; Ferry, L.; Lakoma, K.

Abstract

Analysis of 60,000 contracts awarded by English councils between 2015-19 reveals that austerity constraints are a key predictor of councils outsourcing services to for-profit suppliers, regardless of their political control. Conservative Party-controlled councils are also more likely to contract with for-profit suppliers, although we found no link between Labour-controlled councils and not-for-profit suppliers, nor evidence that political or budgetary factors influence whether councils contract with providers based in their own region. We argue that centrally imposed funding cuts, and a belief that for-profit suppliers represent a cheaper option, could be overriding Labour Party councils’ ideological preference for not-for-profit providers.

Citation

Eckersley, P., Flynn, A., Ferry, L., & Lakoma, K. (2023). Austerity, political control and supplier selection in English local government: implications for autonomy in multi-level systems. Public Management Review, 25(1), 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2021.1930122

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 4, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Jun 1, 2021
• Publication Date: 2023
• Deposit Date: May 4, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 1, 2023
• Journal: Public Management Review
• Print ISSN: 1471-9037
• Electronic ISSN: 1471-9045
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 25
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 1-21
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2021.1930122
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1248810