Since then, councils have contracted private-sector firms and not-for-profit trusts to manage everything from sports centres to museums.
Contracting out the management of leisure centres and libraries to not-for-profit trusts through innovative, multi-borough contracts will create more modern and inclusive services, and save an estimated £30m over 10 years.
She is a strong supporter of Michael Gove's free schools endeavour, setting out her opinion in a 2009 speech on allowing "educational charities, philanthropists, existing school federations, not-for-profit trusts, cooperatives and groups of parents to set up new schools in the state sector".
Academy providers are not-for-profit trusts that run groups of schools.
However, they are run independently from local authority control by not-for-profit trusts, which can buy in private sector services.
"It's a not for profit trust".
Leisure operator GLL started in 1993 after Greenwich council, forced to impose 30% cuts, handed its facilities to a not-for-profit trust.
The council and the government are frantically working on a stop-gap arrangement to get through to the end of the summer term, and plan a not-for-profit trust after that.Other such privatisations have had similar hiccups.
The chief executive of Railtrack resigned after days of turmoil in which the government refused to give the ailing company a cash infusion and the High Court ordered that it be reorganized into a new, not-for-profit trust.
They are now being run by a not-for-profit trust.
The not-for-profit trust will be formed from volunteers to apply for alternative sources of funding, including lottery grants.
