Dunwoody attacks low tender plans
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GOVERNMENT plans to compel local authorities to accept the cheapest tender for parts of their transport business were attacked last week by Shadow Transport Secretary Gwynneth Dunwoody, at the same conference in London last week.
She said: "We cannot say that all local authorities are very efficient, but it is important to understand that service cannot only be measured by costs. It is bizarre that local authorities must accept the lowest cost tender, not the best value for money."
She said her experience of the National Health Service, where such basic services as cleaning had been handed out to private firms, had lowered standards. Relationships between employer and employee had been ruined, she said. "These are extreme cases, but they should be borne in mind."
It was necessary for each local authority to know its finances, the standard of services it wanted, and to have a reasonably happy workforce.
The opposite view was taken by Conservative MP Christopher Chope, a former leader of Wandsworth Borough Council. He quoted Transport Secretary Nicholas Ridley, who had said: "Vehicle maintenance, refuse collection and cleaning will have to be put out to tender and the lowest offer will have to be accepted."
Mr Chope said that he was "convinced that savings can be made" by local authorities, which should be of interest whether to Conservatives or Socialists.
He conceded that some local authority direct labour was More efficient.
But Mr Chope asked the audience: "Even if the local authority runs a tight ship, how can you be sure a fraud isn't being made on the ratepayer, and savings can't be made?"
Putting contracts out to private contractor would also reduce the number of labour disputes. If a contractor does not comply with his contract he "gets the boot", and his strikes are resolved quickly, he said.