MORE than 50 council jobs are set to be privatised - with the Worcestershire Hub being handed to an outside company.

Your Worcester News can reveal how the county's 'shared service' contact centre is on the verge of being taken over by London-based Civica.

The hub will remain in Worcestershire, with its main walk-in base at The Hive and other smaller contact desks in the county in locations like Tenbury staying open.

The handover, which has been on the cards for months, comes after the cash-strapped councils admitted they would have to make massive cuts to keep it in-house.

It handles public queries on behalf of Worcestershire County Council and district authorities in Worcester and Malvern, with a report saying the other option was to keep hold of it and "salami slice" staff.

The council said today it could "not be specific" about possible job losses at this stage, leaving it up in the air.

Under the deal, Civica aims to save the councils a combined £2.6 million by 2023, with 52 jobs being transferred over.

Civica is growing in influence around the UK by running council, police, fire, school and NHS services at 26 different locations.

A report, which was endorsed by the county council's Conservative cabinet this morning, says if the deal does not go ahead there would be "a significant impact on jobs" due to budget cuts.

The company also has a base in Worcestershire already, at the Civic Centre in Pershore, where it runs the benefits and revenues service for councils in the south of the county.

As part of the strategy Civica will push people towards using the internet to deal with their queries on a self-service basis, relying on it to push the volume of phone calls down over time.

Councillor John Campion, cabinet member for transformation and commissioning, said: "This would co-align the face-to-face service (at The Hive and other desks around the county) to that contracted service with the revenues and benefits.

"We need to reap the benefits of the channel shifting we are starting to see."

Councillor Adrian Hardman, the leader, added: "This move towards Civica builds upon their 'centre of excellence' they've built up in Pershore.

"It's a good example of how we can build up a commissioning base to ensure these services stay in the county."

District councils in Worcester and Malvern will examine it next month and take separate votes before a contract is expected to be signed by Monday, December 15.

The aim is to launch the deal from the start of April next year, subject to agreement with the districts.