Union challenges private contractor's bid to cut 70 jobs after council slashes budget
Maintenance workers in Liverpool are threatening to strike over proposed job cuts.

Interserve, the private firm contracted to carry out repairs by Liverpool council, plans to make up to 70 of its 600-plus staff redundant after the council transferred a third of its stock and, as a result, slashed its repair and maintenance budget.

The council has transferred 13,000 homes to three housing associations this year (HT 30 January, page 13).

Its maintenance budget dropped by more than £7m from £28m last year and is projected to fall even further, to just £13m by 2006/7.

Interserve still has the contract to maintain the transferred stock. However, it insisted that earnings from the housing associations would not make up the budget shortfall.

Interserve has already laid off 21 workers and, according to the Transport and General Workers Union, plans to cut 150 more jobs, rather than the 70 the company claims.

After talks on Tuesday between union leaders and the council, T&G national organiser Jack Dromey said he would ballot his members to strike if Interserve did not shelve the redundancies until more talks are held next month.

In a statement released on Monday, council chief executive David Henshaw said it was up to Interserve to decide on any redundancies.

"Interserve has known about the stock transfer, and the effect this may have on its contract and budget, for more than two years – since before it was awarded the contract," it said.

However, a spokesman for Interserve said: "We were aware of the stock transfer but not about how it would affect the budget. All the planning we did last year with the council assumed a larger budget than we ended up getting."

Repair and maintenance in the city is already in a parlous state. The Audit Commission awarded Liverpool council and Interserve a zero rating in November 2002.

Inspectors found that tenants had had difficulties accessing the repairs and maintenance service and there was a lack of maintenance planning. Many homes have not had gas inspections for up to three years.

However the report, issued before the dispute, did say there were promising signs of improvement in the past year.

Source

Housing Today