A direct service organisation or direct labour organisation (DSO or DLO) is a business unit of a United Kingdom

local authority Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

or social landlord (housing association) which undertakes work specified by the

Local Government Act 1988 The Local Government Act 1988 (c. 9) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was famous for its controversial section 28. This section prohibited local authorities from promoting, in a specified category of schools, "the teaching ...

Department for Communities and Local Government The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for housing, communities, and local government in England. It was established in May 200 ...

,
Annex G: Glossary of terms and acronyms
, and Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980http://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/docserver/fulltext/abvitbe.27886.bm03.pdf?expires=1336578967&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=DEA607E99EA177B15387231E04BCBBDA,

ICE Ice is water that is frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 ° C, 32 ° F, or 273.15 K. It occurs naturally on Earth, on other planets, in Oort cloud objects, and as interstellar ice. As a naturally oc ...

and/or other work, including

construction Construction are processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities, and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design that continues until the a ...

and building maintenance.Data Sources and Definitions: Public Sector Employment - Background Notes

Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...

Its workers are directly employed by the authority or landlord.

Local government services

Compulsory competitive tendering (CCT) and

deregulation Deregulation is the process of removing or reducing state regulations, typically in the economic sphere. It is the repeal of governmental regulation of the economy. It became common in advanced industrial economies in the 1970s and 1980s, as a ...

were encouraged in the UK in the early 1980s,SocietyGuardian

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

leading to the formal establishment of DSOs (and their forerunner, DLOs) within many local authorities. Where DLOs and DSOs were established for CCT purposes and the DLO or DSO "won" Council business via a competitive tender, their operation and performance would generally be monitored by the "client" side of the local authority, just as the performance of a private company operating under a

contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...

would be monitored, although 1997 research undertaken on behalf of the

UK government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

observed that client-side monitoring arrangements were "very variable in terms of methods and approaches". About a quarter of local authorities monitored their DSOs using an output-based specification, meaning they focused on the service's result, such as the

cleanliness Cleanliness is both the state of being clean and free from Germ (microorganism), germs, dirt, Trash (garbage), trash, or waste, and the habit of achieving and maintaining that state. Cleanliness is often achieved through cleaning. Culturally, cl ...

achieved or the timeliness of

refuse collection Waste collection is a part of the process of waste management. It is the transfer of solid waste from the point of use and disposal to the point of list of waste treatment technologies, treatment or landfill. Waste collection also includes th ...

, rather than the organisation and resource planning of the DLO or DSO.Austin Mayhead and Company Limited
CCT and Local Authority Blue Collar Services
research for the

Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions The Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions was a United Kingdom Cabinet position created in 1997, with responsibility for the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR). The position and department ...

published in March 1997, archived on 10 June 2009, accessed on 5 October 2024 Under local government CCT, DSOs won a majority of the tenders they bid for, with DSOs winning up to 84% of tenders in

London borough The London boroughs are the current 32 districts of England, local authority districts that together with the City of London make up the administrative area of Greater London, England; each is governed by a London borough council. The present ...

s, up to 83% in metropolitan authorities and up to 75% in counties and districts elsewhere in England and Wales. DSOs providing catering services in schools were the most successful in winning business, while DSOs providing refuse collection services were the least successful type of DSO. A local authority cannot "contract" with itself, and therefore an agreement between a DLO or DSO and its "client" department within the same authority cannot be treated as a contract; however, Regulation 20(8) of the Public Works Contracts Regulations 1991 stated that and therefore such an "offer" could be directly compared with an independent contractor's offer. Substantially the same wording, referring both to works, supplies and services, was included in the Public Contracts Regulations 2006, but was removed when the regulations were updated in 2015.UK Legislation
The Public Contracts Regulations 2015
Regulation 67, accessed on 2 November 2024

Social housing

50% of UK social landlords in 2013 operated a direct labour organisation for property repairs and maintenance. By 2023 this proportion had risen to 61%.McCabe, J.
The DLO dilemma: the choice between outsourcing repairs or doing them in-house
''Inside Housing'', published on 15 March 2023, accessed on 4 October 2024

References

Local government in the United Kingdom Construction industry of the United Kingdom {{Business-term-stub