EY up
Outsourcing , Issue 1683
That makes his choice of firm to get some, er, outsourced advice from a couple of weeks earlier a particularly strange one.
Passing fancy
Burnham’s first parliamentary declaration of interests showed that on 1 July he received a “donation in kind of a secondment to my team” from consultancy outfit EY, valued at £16,500. The firm is an arch proponent of palming off jobs to others.
“Outsourcing a range of internal functions and processes to a third-party managed services provider can offer many benefits to an organisation,” it claims. With the help of its own consultancy, of course.
Contract bridge
No sooner had Burnham lamented unaccountable outsourcing than contracts worth £250m were announced for the outsourcing of civil service training to... EY. Expect some heavy lobbying from its bosses and from other outsourcers to keep the gravy train on track.
More top stories in the latest issue:
STOCK RESPONSE
New chancellor John Healey hailed the FTSE 100’s “all-time highs”, but history suggests his positive message might come back to bite him.
BIG DELO
While attention on the funding of Reform UK is elsewhere, Ben Delo’s £4m gifts in April and May took his total support, all this year, to £8m.
PROTECTION RACKET
Clues to the Dover blockade and a similar event in Portsmouth could be found on the social channels of Daniel “Danny Tommo” Thomas.
DRUG STORIES
Tees Valley regional mayor Lord (Ben) Houchen lamented the drug trade in Middlesbrough, but one convicted drug lord remains in favour on Teesside.
BRICKING IT
The £10bn first tranche of allocations from the £39bn Social and Affordable Homes Programme stuck pretty much to priorities set out under Keir Starmer.
WATER COINCIDENCE
Just as “government officials” are reportedly warning Andy Burnham off nationalising Thames Water, its creditors have hired a top government official.
MESSAGE IN A BATTLE
The government is boasting about the Royal Navy’s fancy new drone – but it includes components made in China that were sending information back there.
Next issue on sale: 23rd September 2026
