EXCLUSIVE: End of Colas contract could see Wirral's highway maintenance returning to council workforce (From Wirral Globe)
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EXCLUSIVE: End of Colas contract could see Wirral's highway maintenance returning to council workforce
11:40am Friday 28th September 2012 in News Exclusive By Craig Manning
End of Colas contract could see Wirral's highway maintenance returning to council workforce
AN OPPORTUNITY to return the maintenance of Wirral’s roads to the care of the council is on the table now the authority’s contract with highways construction giant Colas is to end.
Councillor Harry Smith, cabinet member for Streetscene and transport services, said bringing the work in-house and re-establishing the council’s own Direct Labour Organisation is one of the options that will be considered in February.
He said returning the work to the council would bring “local jobs for local people.”
Colas had written to the town hall advising that it did not wish to proceed with the agreement past March of 2014 under its existing terms.
But the council had already decided it did not want to extend the deal beyond that date due to "serious concerns regarding co-ordination, quality and communication issues." Consultants will now be appointed to advise on the future of road repairs and maintenance.
A report before cabinet on Thursday recommended that interim director of technical services Chris McCarthy prepare a report detailing ‘future options for the delivery of highway and engineering services from April 1 2014, at the earliest opportunity’. This will be considered by cabinet when it meets in February.
Councillor Smith told the Globe: “All options will be considered when cabinet meets in February. Philosophically, I would like to see a Direct Labour Organisation established, but we will have to consider the cost to the public purse.”
He continued: “It does seem that any new tender is likely to be dearer, so we have to consider what it will cost the taxpayer.
“If the bid to keep services in-house was a success there would be a real chance of local jobs for local people.”
A “value for money” report to the ruling cabinet on Thursday revealed major problems had been encountered during the course of the contract, which was signed three years ago. An extra £855,000 had to be found due to an “ambiguity” over repairing street lights.
It was off-set to a degree by £75,000 a year through reduced payments to electricity companies.
Around £92,000 above agreed budget also had to be found for filling roadside grit bins with salt from council stocks.
An inquiry earlier this year found councillors were not kept informed of the problems nor was their approval sought for a total of £1.4m of extra spending which became necessary as the contract progressed.
Wirral became enmeshed in allegations of wrong-doing over the handling of the multi-million pound agreement, leading to the eventual suspension of technical services director Dave Green.
A report published in June by the Audit Commission concluded Mr Green “probably” broke European rules by meeting with a representative of Colas - and by then failing to declare an interest when the contract was awarded.
Comments(33)
Cheesy Peas
says...
12:05pm Fri 28 Sep 12
What utter political hogwash from Cllr Sweary. It'll be the same staff as employed now by Colas.
PaulCa
says...
12:12pm Fri 28 Sep 12
niggle rumps
says...
12:38pm Fri 28 Sep 12
Can't see that I'm afraid. Also that would mean no payout for Mr Green et al.
No definitely can't see this one happening
steady cyclist
says...
1:27pm Fri 28 Sep 12
There are lots of companies out there able to quote, and it MUST BE COMPETTIVE TENDER, not favours for mates .
Arris
says...
2:16pm Fri 28 Sep 12
If the council keep the bins in house they don't have to make a profit. They have the same overheads as Biffa so it must be cheaper for it to stay in house.
Likewise COLAS and the road maintenance.
Or am I missing something here?
niggle rumps
says...
2:22pm Fri 28 Sep 12
steady cyclist wrote:Steady on 'Steady', any company can BUY a contract. Members must not be seduced by promises that result in the overspend detailed above and the following court actions
what we need is a whole new management , not the same people being promoted and paid more, as is what usually happens . There are lots of companies out there able to quote, and it MUST BE COMPETTIVE TENDER, not favours for mates .
Cheesy Peas
says...
2:47pm Fri 28 Sep 12
All tenderers need to do is offer a £2,000 golfing holiday...
niggle rumps
says...
2:52pm Fri 28 Sep 12
Cheesy Peas wrote:What are you insinuating Cheesy?
The contract process is meticulous. All tenderers need to do is offer a £2,000 golfing holiday...
unbeleivable
says...
3:00pm Fri 28 Sep 12
Jack Boot
says...
3:01pm Fri 28 Sep 12
If you take the cost of employment into account the bean counters can maximise profits and lower the operational cost. This is the stink of capitalism,
My eyes were opened when they changed the name of the Personnel department in my company and all others to Human Resources, ie to use until no longer useful.
I do hope the Council resort to the time honoured way of employing people, by providing security and stability but I fear those times are long gone.
Cheesy Peas
says...
3:04pm Fri 28 Sep 12
Ben Beaconsfield
says...
3:21pm Fri 28 Sep 12
Arris wrote:Economies of scale. The more bins to be emptied and charged for, the cheaper the cost of emptying them. Biffa don't just empty Wirral bins - a WBC department can only empty Wirral bins.
Can somebody please explain to me how it is cheaper for a council to outsource work than to keep it in house. Take Biffa for example. They have shareholders and are there to make a profit. They don't do the work out of the goodness of their heart!
If the council keep the bins in house they don't have to make a profit. They have the same overheads as Biffa so it must be cheaper for it to stay in house.
Likewise COLAS and the road maintenance.
Or am I missing something here?
johnhardaker
says...
3:44pm Fri 28 Sep 12
If you expect me to believe that these bunch of clowns in Brighton Street then you are sadly deluded. I for one would put the job out to tender with proper contractors who know what they are doing & employ properly trained staff in Streetscene & get rid of the idiots who sourced the contract in the first place Have a look on Wirral leaks website & see what lord & lady wirral leaks thinks of the situation,cheers.
spamfiend
says...
4:00pm Fri 28 Sep 12
Yet more consultation fees when WBC are claiming overspend and cuts !?!
ArdalMcFardle
says...
4:31pm Fri 28 Sep 12
Positive thinker
says...
6:51pm Fri 28 Sep 12
MX
says...
7:06pm Fri 28 Sep 12
Hugo1008
says...
7:21pm Fri 28 Sep 12
There are plenty of reputable external contractors quite capable of doing the job, do not under any circumstances put all the eggs in one basket.
Engage more than one outfit to ensure we get value for money, the better contractor will surface and get the lions share of the work available but still be subject to competition, not just for price but for quality.
And ensure all the contracts and engagements are fully transparent, clean, honest, fair, open to full public scrutiny and give value for money.
Plus the army of Council Managers, Inspectors, Supervisors, etc are up to the job and fully accountable, in other words able to do what they are paid to do and can be seen to be doing the job properly.
Hugo1008
says...
7:33pm Fri 28 Sep 12
Always remember this when it come time for Elections, if you are not happy with your local conditions, services, or facilities, do not under any circumstances re-elect the same parasite. "Pick a New Face" that way you determine if a Councillor is worth keeping.
Rely on the one who works all year round on your behalf and not the ones who just emerge a few weeks before the elections, even if they have been around for Years doing naff all for most of the time, regardless of what Political Party they come from.
There should be no Party Politics in Local Government just people who work for the electorate and not themselves, as is the present case.
steve£80
says...
9:02pm Fri 28 Sep 12
steady cyclist wrote:Exit stage left
what we need is a whole new management , not the same people being promoted and paid more, as is what usually happens .
There are lots of companies out there able to quote, and it MUST BE COMPETTIVE TENDER, not favours for mates .
PaulCa
says...
9:06pm Fri 28 Sep 12
oxj99t
Says it all really....
bloodtub
says...
9:27am Sat 29 Sep 12
djrimmer
says...
8:19pm Sun 30 Sep 12
Hugo has summed up this councillor quite accurately and his only interest is his beloved Labour Party cronies
Positive thinker
says...
8:34pm Sun 30 Sep 12
for the people when they get such a
slateing if it was me I would throw the
towel in
MX
says...
9:19pm Sun 30 Sep 12
Pretending they're important or watching Cash In The Attic?.
Ben Beaconsfield
says...
11:52pm Sun 30 Sep 12
Positive thinker wrote:In that case, wish they were all like you......
It makes me wonder why these councillors carry on trying to do good
for the people when they get such a
slateing if it was me I would throw the
towel in
Positive thinker
says...
9:35am Mon 1 Oct 12
say to themselves how much can I earn for doing nothing for the good of the people they represent
Ben Beaconsfield
says...
10:01am Mon 1 Oct 12
Positive thinker wrote:Not all councillors are the same.
Ben are you of the opinion that these councillors get up every morning and
say to themselves how much can I earn for doing nothing for the good of the people they represent
Some do an excellent job for their constituents, away from the limelight of publicity. They don't Twitter or blog, they don't put out endless glossy full-colour leaflets or drown newspaper editors with self-serving press releases. They don't piggy-back on local voluntary organisations or charities for that extra fix of fame. They just 'do' being a councillor. Co-incidentally, most of those who fit into this category are back-benchers.
Then we have the other side of that coin - the "look at me, me, me - here, here, here" councillors: self-obsessed, shameless publicity seekers who think nothing of using every opportunity, no matter how distasteful, to promote themselves (and occasionally their party).
As far as earning money is concerned, a simple trawl through the councillors expenses/allowances records on the Wirral Council website, or the allowances of the outside bodies (Merseyside Police Authority, Merseytravel and so on) or individual councillors declarations of interest where they list paid work with their own political party, is mind-blowing. It also helps differentiate between the first type of councillor I cite (who tend to receive nothing more than the minimum payment available) and the second type, who shamelessly seem to be milking the system for all it is worth.
DannyM
says...
10:40am Mon 1 Oct 12
Hugo1008 wrote:Councillor Harry . By returning back to the old DLO , this would reward the small group of individuals who have caused nothing but trouble to Colas , their employer! , since the beginning .
Just make sure it is not a case of some dubious character Empire Building.
There are plenty of reputable external contractors quite capable of doing the job, do not under any circumstances put all the eggs in one basket.
Engage more than one outfit to ensure we get value for money, the better contractor will surface and get the lions share of the work available but still be subject to competition, not just for price but for quality.
And ensure all the contracts and engagements are fully transparent, clean, honest, fair, open to full public scrutiny and give value for money.
Plus the army of Council Managers, Inspectors, Supervisors, etc are up to the job and fully accountable, in other words able to do what they are paid to do and can be seen to be doing the job properly.
Colas are not to blame as they have inherited these unwilling staff from Wirral BC .
These ex DLO 'local people ' as Harry suggests need to be monitored at all times as they would rather assist and represent the un-accredited subcontractor, than their own employer.
Its Corruption and Deceit and those guilty stealing and cheating from us Wirral council tax payer's together with the sub-contractor will be named and made accountable , later this week on here after a report has been sent to Chris Mcarthy .
Wirral BC and Colas until 2014 , you have a duty required to the people of Wirral to protect us from such improper actions /behaviour when spending our money.
Lieutenant Columbo
says...
8:24pm Tue 2 Oct 12
The Council must be in Control? This all sounds very dark & mysterious.
It sounds like that old dark British movie I think was called Wignall & I?
Corrections if I got the movie name wrong?
Councillor Harry Smith is not a bad guy. Leave him alone and stop bullying the poor man!
"Erm Just one more thing?"
Hugo1008
says...
8:27am Fri 5 Oct 12
For countless years the failure of WBC managers to control the workforce, and the failure of the council workforce to have any trust, belief, or even respect for the managers in the DLO, caused untold misery to residents in wirral, in just about every district.
The co-habitation between elected councilors and trade union officers made sure that the whole DLO was a very expensive and largley usless function. I know I was there.
colindyas
says...
10:08am Sun 14 Oct 12
HAVEN'T WE HEARD ALL OF THIS BEFORE?
If our opinions matter, lets not have a debate about how the public can support its council, let have a debate about how the council can support its public in an open, honest, and transparent way
Ben Beaconsfield says...
11:02am Fri 28 Sep 12