Government blocks council services
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• The Government has banned a London local authority from maintaining council-run vehicles from 1 September in a move likely to affect local authority services nationwide, including refuse-collection and street-cleaning operations.
The Department of the Environment has set a precedent by enforcing Section 14 of the 1988 Local Authority Act against Hillingdon Borough Council, because the DoE alleges the council behaved anti-competitively by awarding a vehicle maintenance contract to its own Direct Services Organisation, despite a private contractor's bid that was £104,000 lower.
The council is seeking legal advice over whether to appeal against the ban in court: a decision is expected next week. Joint steward committee chair, Don Fraser, representing the four unions affected by the ban, says: '"Ishe Conservative group and their cronies in government have decided to put 16 dedicated employees out of work." The committee has slammed the DoE's action as "a kick in the teeth for local government".
LI Six companies have been forced to take on additional staff to fulfill street-cleaning and refuse collection-contracts, according to the latest report from the Public Services Privatisation Research Unit.