End of the line for private Town Hall cleaning contractors

Published: 1 October, 2010
by TERRY MESSENGER

THE tide is turning in Islington against the private provision of council services, a flagship policy embraced by both New Labour and the Conservatives.

The Labour-run borough this week an­nounced the end of a contract with a private firm to clean the Town Hall and other municipal buildings.

Around 150 cleaners will no longer work for the Kier Group from November and will instead be employed directly by the council on better pay and conditions.

The move was described by Labour finance chief Richard Greening as “an important step in making Islington a fairer place by ensuring that staff who clean council buildings are paid properly”.

The council also claimed that the contract would cost taxpayers less “through reducing management overheads”.

It’s the first time a privatised Islington Council contract has been taken back “in house” since 2003. And it flies in the face of both Blairite philosophy and privatisation policies pioneered by Margaret Thatcher. 

Surprisingly, the move was also welcomed by Oriel Hutchinson, organising secretary of Islington Conservative Federation.

She said: “Speaking as a business person, the bottom line is value for money. And if you can get value for money by doing something in house instead of sub-contracting, when you are paying out to a middle man, it might provide better ­value for money. 

“It could mean a saving to council tax payers and tenants.” 

Half the cleaners are currently employed by the Kier Group, a massive private conglomerate with 11,000 staff and a turnover of £2.1billion.   

The other half work for temp agencies and many of those “do not have contracts with terms and conditions like sick leave,” said Cllr Greening.

Under the new council contract, all the cleaners will be entitled to normal employment benefits such as sick pay and holiday leave.

They will be paid the London Living Wage of £7.85p per hour, a pay rate recommended by the Greater London Authority as a minimum for the high cost capital. For some of the cleaners, the new rate is a pay hike.

Kier cleaning manager Janet Carter, who worked for the council before her job was outsourced, said:  “I’m looking forward to coming back and working as part of a team where you’re fully involved with the delivery of the whole service. It’s more motivating to work like that. It makes you want to put in the extra effort for your colleagues.”