THREE new outsourcing giants have been lined up to potentially take control of around 125 town hall jobs in Burnley, according to union officials, under a ‘privatisation’ consultation.

And there are fears that whoever ends up with the £37million contract, for the next decade, the deal could damage Burnley’s economy by seeing jobs transferred out of the borough.

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Liberata, which runs certain back-office functions for neighbouring Pendle, is among the frontrunners, says the public services union Unison.

And their nearest rivals are understood to be Arvato, which runs municipal services in Sefton, on Merseyside; and Mouchel, which delivers similar provisions for Oldham.

Peter Thorne, branch secretary for Unison, said: “We are obviously concerned and the effect on both our members and the service to the public if services are outsourced.

“We know from numerous examples across the country that outsourced services generally result in a worse service as the private sector is driven by profit rather than quality of service and will do all it can to cut costs regardless of the consequences.

“There could also be a negative impact on the local economy as jobs may leave the area. This could see jobs moving to Nelson, Southport or Oldham with all the knock-on effects on Burnley’s economy.”

And one council worker, who asked not to be named, has criticised the current consultation process, which he insists should have been undertaken before the prospective tenders had been lined up.

Staff are said to be unhappy about the format of the online consultation, which asks various questions about internet usage without reference to private outsourcing or existing jobs.

“We should be asked it we want it to go private, not how often we use the internet. They should be asking if we want services kept in Burnley or shipped out to God knows where,” added the worker.

Council bosses say they have been forced to consider privatising the likes of customer services, environmental health and licensing, payroll, IT, revenues and benefits and property management, as they look to save a further £2million.