The record of the Conservatives running West Sussex County Council is strewn with examples of waste and severe mismanagement.

In 2012 the Tories agreed a 10-year contract to outsource administrative and some finance functions to Capita, a private sector business consultancy service. This contract, worth £154 million, was agreed despite concerns about the ability of Capita to effectively deliver public service administration.

Three years later in 2015, a consultant’s report found that some service standards had declined so severely that the outsourced services had to be brought back under County Council management , a move that resulted in service disruption and additional costs.

The decline in service standards eventually led to the resignation in October 2019 of the Leader of the Tory administration responsible for running the Council.

The catalogue of failure includes:

Children’s services:  A damning Ofsted report highlighting “long-standing, widespread and serious weaknesses“ that were failing vulnerable children.

Waste of public funds:  A total severance package of £265,000 awarded to a failed Chief Executive.

A botched tender process: That cost £4 million in compensation to a losing   highways contract bidder.

Major cuts to Housing Related Support and Local Assistance Network funding.