They fear that preparation of the code, and statutory guidance, will overrun the September deadline for guidance on next year’s voluntary transfer round.
The Best Value review group headed by local government minister Nick Raynsford (pictured) is to draw up the code.
A meeting last week is understood to have endorsed Byers’ ruling that new and existing staff must be offered “broadly comparable” terms and that these must be similarly comparable to council conditions.
Unions will have the right to be consulted on new recruits’ terms.
Byers pledged last year to end the ‘two tier’ workforce where new recruits are offered worse terms.
He has already required equal conditions and established pension rights for staff transferring to arm’s-length companies.
The new arrangements would ensure contractors were chosen on quality, not cost cutting, he said.
Byers added they would “prevent good contractors with high employment standards from being undercut by those willing to abuse the system”.
Capita, which holds several council housing benefit contracts and is a member of the review group, said the deal would “cause no difficulty for companies like Capita”.
Policy development director John Tizard said: “There should be no more contracting at the expense of workers and their terms and conditions – an approach which Capita has always rejected.
“Some flexibility is essential for change in public services, but staff must still be given a fair deal, which has not always happened in the past.”
Unison welcomed the statutory basis of the new arrangements, but said there was too much uncertainty in terms such as “broadly comparable”.
It said it would continue to campaign for direct employment and would try to maximise the benefits of the code and guidance.
Source
Housing Today
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