Brum keeps
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as binmen
BIRMINGHAM'S REFUSE collec tion is to be cut by 30 per con and three depots closed to make It a more cost effective opera tion, and save over £16m in film years.
The Conservative-controllec city council had previous!) offered an open tender to thc private sector, but the 700 cit) dustmen agreed to 262 redun dancies to secure the contract.1 There will also be a reduction as yet unspecified, of refust vehicles of various kinds. At thi moment there are about 2E4 vehicles, but these must be cu back by January 17, when tilt five-year contract starts.
Reg Hales, chairman of thc city's environmental health corn mittee, and the main drivini force behind the move, was ver) happy both with the speed a which the operation had beer completed and with the cos benefits falling to the ratepayers Not one day's work had beer lost through negotiations 0 disputes, Mr Hales told CM.
"Any deal that can save tho ratepayers £3.3m a year must bc good", he commented. "Wher we took control in May, we sak we would look at all the aspect of cutting back finances, and thii is what we have done."
• Thirty-nine refuse collecton in Dover have managed to hok on to their jobs after promisin 1 more cost-effective service.
Dover District Council had out a tender and five firms fr n the private sector had put ii bids.