As austerity bites and the idea of the 'Commissioning Council' gathers pace, authorities of every political stripe are now examining what to do with services which have formed the historic core part of their offer to communities: libraries, leisure and parks facilities, heritage and children's services. Craig Dearden Phillips and Ed Mayo investigate.

Until quite recently, there has been a fairly binary choice. On one side is traditional outsourcing where the service is simply put into the market. This works well in sectors where a local market is responsive, innovative and competitive.