Direct service organisation

A direct service organisation or direct labour organisation (DSO or DLO) is a business unit of a United Kingdom local authority or housing association which undertakes work specified by the Local Government Act 1988[1] and Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980[2] and/or other work, including construction and maintenance.[1][3] Its workers are directly employed by the authority.[1]

Formation

Compulsory competitive tendering and deregulation were encouraged in the early 1980s,<ref name="guardian>SocietyGuardian, The Guardian</ref> leading to the formal establishment of the DSO (and its forerunner, the DLO).[4]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/localgovernment/pdf/1194710.pdf Glossary of terms and acronyms, Department for Communities and Local Government
  2. ↑ http://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/docserver/fulltext/abvitbe.27886.bm03.pdf?expires=1336578967&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=DEA607E99EA177B15387231E04BCBBDA, ICE
  3. ↑ Data Sources and Definitions: Public Sector Employment - Background Notes, Scottish Government
  4. ↑ http://www.cipfa.org.uk/thejournal/download/jour_vol5_no2_c.pdf Cost Saving Through Competitive Tendering: The Case of Refuse Collection Revisited, Tonge, Richard & Willett, Caroline, University of Portsmouth, CIPFA