The Impact of Compulsory Competitive Tendering

Abstract

The introduction and development of compulsory competitive tendering (CCT) in local authorities have been at the heart of recent Conservative governments’ agendas for change. Successive legislative enactments have forced local authorities to put specific services out to competitive tender on a time-scale established by the centre. This chapter examines the ideological context within which CCT originated and discusses the development of the accompanying legislative framework. The chapter then examines the impact upon the internal management of local authorities which CCT has effected. The financial and service provision implications of CCT are then analysed. Finally there is a discussion of recent consultation papers and legislation which, taken together, have the potential fundamentally to shift the role of local authorities from being direct service providers to contract awarders.