PRESS RELEASE: 10th January 2025
Burnley Council has announced a strategic update to its partnership with Liberata, extending the collaboration until the end of 2027 for key outsourced services while transitioning specific functions back under direct council management.
Under the extended agreement, Liberata will continue to deliver services for Revenues and Benefits, Customer Services, IT, Payroll, and HR administration. Facilities Management, Property Services, Environmental Health, and Licensing will return to direct Council management by 1st April 2025.
A successful partnership
Councillor Maggie Lishman, Executive Member for Resources and Performance, said: “Our partnership with Liberata has been a success. We have achieved significant savings; the contract price is fixed, so a 20% saving is forecast against the base costs in the final years of the current contract. At the same time, service standards have been achieved.”
“Another success has been job creation – Liberata has created new jobs in Burnley to support its contracts with local councils in other parts of the UK. For these reasons, I am pleased that we are extending our partnership with Liberata until the end of 2027 to provide our customer services, revenues and benefits, IT, and payroll services.”
“The two services we are bringing back in house have performed well under Liberata’s management; however, with additions to our property assets, changes in regulation, and new opportunities to integrate services within the council, we believe there are now greater long-term advantages to bringing property services and environmental health & licensing under direct council control. Bringing the services back in house is cost neutral- the service charge paid to Liberata is reduced by £1.2m and this will pay for the in-house service.”
Charlie Bruin, Chief Executive of Liberata said: “We are proud of our strong partnership with Burnley Council and what we have achieved together over the last 8 years, including effective revenue collection, step change cost savings, job creation, and high service standards. The maturity of this collaboration has enabled productive discussions to transition key services back to the Council, aligning with their evolving priorities and ensuring the best outcomes for the community. We are delighted to extend our partnership until 2027 and look forward to continuing to support Burnley through innovation and digital strategies that help those who need it most.”
