Proposals to contract out the running of Northamptonshire CC's remaining homes for the elderly, meals on wheels service and country parks were passed at last week's cabinet meeting. The council said 10 companies had already expressed an interest in taking over management of the country parks but refused to name the interested parties. Northamptonshire will now undertake an exercise to gauge wider interest in contracting out the senior citizens' homes and meals on wheels services, and seek companies interested in managing them. But leader of the opposition, Roy Mayhew, accused the authority of trying to implement short-term fixes to solve the problems it had with 'trying to balance the books'. 'The council is rushing into this privatisation agenda without appropriate consideration,' Cllr Mayhew told The MJ. 'We'll probably become the first county council in the country which regularly meets just to ladle out contracts.' Commenting on the plans to contract out the remaining council-run senior citizens' homes, Cllr Mayhew consented that the issue of their management had been rumbling on 'for years'. This, he added, had led to a great deal of uncertainty and was ultimately, unfair on the people using the service. 'If, after thorough investigation, this idea of privatisation is found to be the best option, we would, with reluctance, agree to it.
