Posted on 28-03-2010 at 02:00
Public Sector PQQ Specialists
Public Sector goes Private
A Devon council is transferring a large part of its public service operation and hundreds of its employees to a private contractor.
Torbay Council announced a multi-million pound partnership with May Gurney when the London Stock Exchange opened earlier.
May Gurney will take over rubbish collections, street cleaning, beach cleaning and road maintenance.
The council said it will save it at least £10m over the next 10 years.
The contract awarded to May Gurney is valued at £130m for 10 years.
'Two-tier workforce'
Other services which will be taken over include parks and public spaces and the council's out-of-hours call centre operation.
"It's all down to improving the services and ensuring we make money long term and save money for the residents," Councillor Dave Butt told BBC News.
"The private sector has access to the funds we don't, so we do need their assistance to improve."
Grass cutting generic
Parks and public spaces in Torbay will also be maintained by May Gurney
The council said no jobs would be lost and 300 workers would transfer to the new company with their salaries, pensions and conditions of employment protected.
Mr Butt said up to 40 new jobs would also be created in the summer months.
However, Stuart Fegan from the GMB union, said although they had protected council employees, the union was worried about new staff who may be taken on with worse conditions, resulting in a possible "two tier" workforce.
"We want to avoid the situation where if there are two refuse loaders, for example, unloading the same bins - one's on a higher rate of pay than the other. That would be blatantly unfair," Mr Fegan said.
"Irrespective of whether they're in the public sector or the private sector, we need to make sure we look after the people who are delivering high-quality services to the people of Torbay."
Philip Fellowes-Prynne, chief executive of May Gurney, said he was looking forward to working with the council to deliver better services across the region.
"May Gurney is an expert at developing deep long-term relationships with its clients where real collaboration is crucial," he said.
