Sorry to go on about this but the Customer Service Direct contract is looking more expensive every time it gets revisited.  Just to put it in context the overspend is more than two times this year’s savings.  Some of that overspend may genuinely be extra services that weren’t envisioned at the time that the council signed it, but few people who were not tied to it think it makes up the majority of the overspend.

As Ipswich Spy have proved the remnants of the Suffolk Labour led regime are remarkably complacent about this.  Paraphrasing former senior comrade Julian Swainson, Ipswich Spy said “As our eagle eyed reader from up Norfolk way pointed out, the big problem with the CSD contract is the lack of scrutiny of the contract since 2005.”  Even as partisan sniping that fails, as a Labour opposition would be a crucial part of that scrutiny.

And that’s before pointing out that despite Jeremy Pembroke’s other failings, at least he made sure a County Councillor was named to the board, something that doesn’t seem to have been a priority when the red flag was flying over County Hall.