Councillor David Simmonds, cabinet member for education and children's services, said, 'We anticipate that they are not going to be able to remain the lead agency and that responsibility will have to go elsewhere.'
He said the council was keeping a 'watching brief' on the details of the PCT's plans for outsourcing services. 'If they are talking about outsourcing procurement then it can have a big impact on children's services if you have a provider who doesn't have the expertise and experience to do that.'
He emphasised that the local authority was not funded to provide PCT services, such as health visiting and midwifery, but that it would work with other partner agencies to 'make sure these projects go forward'.
He said the involvement in childcare by the private, voluntary and independent sectors meant they would not necessarily end up in deficit if they brought in other activities.
Hillingdon PCT said it would not make a final decision until April. It stated, 'The PCT recognises that a factor contributing to the financial challenges is a skills gap in the commissioning function with regard to performance management and contract negotiations. One of the options to be developed will be to seek the skills and experience from the independent sector to help the PCT strengthen the commissioning function.'
Jo Webber, deputy policy director at the NHS Confederation, said the current re-organisation of PCTs had put a strain on partership working between PCTs and local authorities. However, she said that the NHS appeared to be on target to fulfil the promise made by health secretary Patricia Hewitt that income and expenditure would be in balance by the end of this financial year.