Plans to move services - including bin collections - out of full council control in Middlesbrough will be scrutinised after being called-in by concerned councillors.
More than 1,400 Middlesbrough Council workers could be transferred to a new company under plans put forward to councillors in the town.
Members of the council’s Executive were told last week that the move would not mean privatisation - as services including bin collection, dog wardens, security and CCTV and highways maintenance would be delivered by a newly created joint venture company (JVC) with a public sector partner.
But after members heard that the plans could be rushed to be in place by the time Mayor Ray Mallon leaves office in May, eight councillors have now asked for the council’s Overview and Scrutiny Board to look again at the proposals.
Councillors Len Junier, John McPartland, Michael Hudson, Michael Saunders, Pervaz Khan, Derek Loughborough, Brian Hubbard and Peter Cox have signed the call-in document.
Cllr Junier said: “We are not totally against the idea. What we are against is rushing it.
“When this system was rolled out in Medway, it took nine months and then three months to go through a formal decision making process.
“Why does it have to be done by May, when the Mayor leaves office?”
It was agreed that Middlesbrough Council forms a partnership arrangement with Norse - owned by Norfolk County Council - which has existing joint ventures with more than 20 local authorities.
Tony Parkinson, executive director of commercial and corporate services at Middlesbrough Council has said the process would normally take six months but could be done in six weeks with the “appropriate level of resources”.
Ian Campbell, Unison branch secretary, has expressed concerns about the speed of implementing the plan.
But Cllr Tracy Harvey, executive member for environment, said at the meeting to announce the plans: “I think of it as a positive approach for our staff.”
Under the plan, 50% of any profits made by the venture would be returned to Middlesbrough Council.
The call-in document signed by councillors raises five concerns: the “rush” to implement it in 13 weeks; that the proposed changes are a “massive move away” from ‘in-house’ services and should go out to in-depth public consultation and presentation from trade unions; and that the council should look at setting up their own not-for-profit company and work with other Teesside councils to keep 100% of profits.
The call-in document also said that committing a new council in May to a lengthy multi-million pound contract “is not true democracy at work”; and that information must be provided as to who will gain from ‘profits’.
A spokesman for Middlesbrough Council confirmed that elements of the call-in document were valid, and the Overview and Scrutiny Board has been pencilled in to meet at 4pm on February 10.
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