The Newsletters were distributed to all staff. These gave information on the reason for the project, key decisions that have been made and regular updates. Newsletters were circulated to staff in April 2001, June 2001, December 2001, June 2002 and May 2002.The newsletters were replaced in May when the Project intranet site was established. This contains details on all elements of the project and links to the bidder's own sites. All managers have received monthly updates through the Information Bulletin.

Joint Management and Union Staff meetings took place in January 2002. These were two hour sessions hosted by Jean Hinks, Resources Director. This was an opportunity for staff to have an update on the project and ask questions.

Further staff briefings were held on the 5th and 6th February 2002. The purpose of the meetings was to brief staff on the Council's decision on the Project made on the 24th January 2002 and gave details of the short listed companies.

MSS Marketing Research conducted some research with staff who were potentially affected by the Project in order to:

· Establish the level of understanding of the project

· Understand how staff would like to be kept informed

· Understand current concerns about the project.

The conclusions of the survey were that overall there is a high awareness of the Project amongst the relevant staff and a fair level of understanding about the overall objectives. The biggest concerns were general uncertainty about potential changes to terms and conditions of their jobs, and whether they would have jobs.

The results of the survey were fed back to staff in four departments in August 2002.

As well as providing feedback on the survey the briefings were an opportunity to update staff on the project and provide them with information on TUPE, which was one of the staff's concerns.

In September a series of all staff information sessions were held in Bath, Keynsham and Midsomer Norton. The purpose of these sessions were to update staff on the current status of the project and to listen to their views on the process.

Following receipt of the bids presentations were arranged for all staff to have the opportunity to hear from each of the bidders. The bidders brief was to explain:

· how they felt their bid would help the council meet its objectives

· how the Partnership will work

· what their bid includes in terms of staff transfer and in which services

· and give more information on the company

All staff were provided, via e-mail, with a summary of each of the bidder's proposals including a feedback form. There was an opportunity following the Presentations for staff to feedback their views to the Project Team and ask further questions.

The next presentations to be held were specifically for staff who could transfer to one of the bidders'. The staff and trade unions were given a briefing paper from the Project Team based on the bidder's proposals. This provided staff with specific details on how each of the proposals would impact on them, details of the bidder's HR Transition Plan and future developments. The bidder's gave a short presentation based on the briefing paper followed by a question and answer session. The staff were also provided with feedback forms. Questions raised have been sent to each of the bidders for a response and will be fed back to the staff concerned.

Regular meetings have been held (approximately every six weeks) with the Trade Unions during the period of the project. This is an opportunity to update the trade unions on the project and to answer any questions. The Resources Director has weekly meetings with the Resources trade union shop stewards to discuss the project.

On the 10th July 2002 the trade unions met with the bidders. Each of the bidders gave a presentation on the structure, ethos and experience of each of their organisations followed by a question and answer session.