PRIVATE companies could soon be helping run council services - from cleaning and catering to road maintenance and rubbish dumps.

Moves to investigate selling off, shaking-up and inviting private partners into a number of council departments got the backing of Cumbria county councillors yesterday (Thursday).

A package of proposals - dubbed Invest to Save and Improve - provoked a backlash from placard-waving union representatives outside the meeting and opposition leaders who warned the proposals could overstretch a leadership already contending with a series of budget overspends.

Proposals to get the backing of CCC yesterday included:

l Restructuring Cumbria Contract Services - which provides blue-collar services such as courier services and road maintenance.

l Externalising or selling off CCS premises and construction unit - which provides cleaning and catering - and Fleet Workshops - which provide vehicle-purchasing services.

l Seeking a partner to help co-run Cumbria Waste Management - a CCC arms-length company which runs county waste dumps.

l Restructuring Cumbria Care - which provides care to sick, elderly and disabled people - possibly dividing it into six units.

l Buying in experts to help deliver Information Technology.

Services to remain in-house will include libraries, special education needs and the fire service.

A cross-party group will be set up to look into developing the recommendations - part of a £78,000 study by management consultants Price-WaterhouseCooper.

Cabinet leaders said change was necessary to make savings and attract investment in a climate of stringent government targets and pressures such as the growing elderly population.

Labour leader Stewart Young said members had been given too little information to make an informed decision while deputy Labour leader Anne Burns said the move was " a kick in the teeth" for existing staff.

Demonstrating outside the building, Unison steward for Cumbria Care Nia Gomersall, a care worker of 13 years, said: " We strongly object to everything about these proposals for Cumbria Care.

We think it's a bad idea to privatise council services."