COUNCIL bosses looking to privatise a public contact centre in Worcestershire have been warned they must get it right or risk serious damage reputation.

Councillor Lynn Denham has hit out at the Worcestershire Hub 'shared service' hive off appearing "a foregone conclusion".

The Labour politician has also revealed how she took part in some of the initial talks over privatising the hub last year when she was part of the city council's leadership, and expressed concerns at the time.

It comes as the Tory in charge of shared services in Worcester gave it her backing, saying Civica would turn the hub into "a quality service".

Cllr Denham said: "I was involved in meetings about this before June (when Labour lost control at the city council) and I did express concern about it but was assured this was not a foregone conclusion.

"Well, it does seem a foregone conclusion now. The hub is really, really important for this council, it is the front face.

"The customer service centre at the Hive really is our public face, people judge the council on the quality of it."

She added: "It's really important we get the governance right. There is also an issue of allowing commercial profitability to come into a public service, which is being missed in all of this."

The hub handles public queries on everything from potholes to bus passes on behalf of Worcestershire County Council and district authorities in Worcester and Malvern, with Civica saying an eight-year deal will save around £2.6 million at least, as a combined estimate.

It wants to take the service over from April, running the Hive's face-to-face centre, the public phone line and all the customer service desks dotted around Worcestershire.

Some job cuts are expected among the 52 staff, but those losing out can expect the chance to be redeployed elsewhere, although the details are still being thrashed out.

Civica is promising serious investment in the telephone and IT equipment and the development of new self-service facilities to meet the growth of online enquiries to get it geared up for the future.

Councillor Lucy Hodgson, cabinet member for customer services at the city council, said: "The whole need of the hub has changed.

"The savings to this are secondary, it really is about what is best for this service and best for customers.

"It will improve the quality of a service which has creaked recently."

She added: "The most calls to the hub come from our residents (in Worcester), we're fully aware they are among the most vulnerable in this city.

"There will still be that face-to-face service."

During the debate, which took place at a scrutiny meeting, Councillor Joy Squires said: "I'm amazed really - Lucy is saying the public sector, which is reknowned for providing public services, and all those things it does so well, cannot provide a resilient one here.

"You've said it yourself, these people are the most vulnerable, and you're handing them over to the public sector. I find it quite sad, really."