This is actually the job I do. I take people's jobs and move them offshore.
Firstly let me say that yes, technically it will be Capita who is the employer but they would never do this without explicit agreement from the council. In short, the council could have pulled the plug at anytime by simply saying it's not a good idea.
Secondly, the simple fact is that an UK employee is bloody expensive. Their salaries is just one part. Other significant costs are employers NI, pension contributions, car allowances, training, health & safety etc. etc.
Compare this with an indian person who will be at the very least a graduate. They'll work 60 hours plus at the drop of a hat, sit a desk half the size of a UK one and he/she will be happy as pie to do all this at a third of the cost of a UK employee.....Do the maths!
And that's assuming Capita don't achieve the holy grail of outsourcing and double bubble their employees. Ie. having same employees work multiple contracts.
Your typical Indian worker attitudes towards work is way better than your average UK person. The older generation of Indian's were a bit too reserved and often didn't speak up if they had a problem. The generation coming through now are much more vocal and work more in the same way as a western worker would.
Telecommunications means now that a lot of work, ironically especially IT can be done just as effectively from India as it can be in the UK.
The blunt truth is that councils need to save money since their grant from central government have been slashed. In that context it's either offshore some jobs to save money or raise council tax bills. Who here is willing to pay more council tax?