Liverpool to ration less urgent repairs

A leaked report says the number of non-emergency jobs being passed to Enterprise-Liverpool, the city’s housing repair joint-venture company, must be reduced if a predicted £1m budget overspend is to be brought under control.

The council insists prioritising work to balance the books is normal practice, but it confirmed non-emergency work will be reduced for a six-week period until 31 March.

A spokesman said: “All emergency and urgent repairs will continue to be carried out and gas servicing is being completed as normal. All major modernisation schemes, worth £10m this year, are unaffected.”

He said: “You’ve got work that is going out to 500 sub-contractors alongside a direct workforce of just 250. Ultimately we want to see this service run in-house again by the council – that’s what is in the best interests of the tenants and the workforce.”