Agenda item

RESOLVED

(1)     That Sharon Skinner and Mrs Kingston be granted leave to address cabinet on Item 15: Future of Allchin Steamroller

(2)     That Beverley Mennell, Martin De Rosario, Norman Adams, Dave Green, Ronald Mendel, Councillor Joy Capstick, Councillor Tony Clarke and Councillor David Palethorpe be granted leave to address the Cabinet in Item 10: Evaluating Ways of Delivering Services and Improving Value for Money (VFM) for the Council Tax Payers of Northampton.

(3)     That Tony Skinner and Councillor Tony Clarke be granted leave to address the Cabinet on Item 14: Community Centres.

Sharon Skinner then addressed Cabinet, stating that the Northampton and Lamport Railway Preservation Society was looking forward to the opportunity to restore the Allchin Steamroller as a working exhibit for Northamptonshire.  She commented that some relatives of the original family were still alive and were proud to be connected with such an important item of the town’s history.  Although it was a shame that the steamroller was currently in bits, she pledged to soon have it rolling again.

In response to a question from the Chair, Councillor Woods, Mrs Skinner assured Cabinet that funding would be made available for the restoration and that any necessary missing parts could be made.

Mrs Kingston then addressed Cabinet and showed them some old papers and pictures relating to the steamroller that had belonged to her father-in-law, who was a relative of the Allchin family.  She suggested that her husband might be willing to donate these and other artefacts to the restoration trust.

Beverley Mennell addressed Cabinet referring to an article in the previous week’s press informing readers of the Borough Council’s intention to consider the privatisation of its services. As the services provided were to be paid for by the taxes of the service users, she asked that any intention to approach private companies be referred to those service users and their responses to be taken into account. She explained that her experience of privatised services in another Borough had shown that private companies had performed well for the first year to gain the contracts and then the quality of its services had declined.

Martin De Rosario addressed Cabinet stating that he was appalled at the quality of street cleaning and rubbish collection services currently being delivered in the town.  He was concerned at the lack of consultation on the proposed privatisation of services, not only with the public but also within the political groups themselves. He was further concerned that additional charges might be levied in the event of private companies taking over public services.

Norman Adams addressed Cabinet and enquired whether the concept of privatisation had been mentioned prior to the election of the current Administration. He did not consider that the proposed outlay of £100k to employ a consultant to carry out a feasibility study was good value for money.  It was his opinion that privatisation was ultimately more expensive.

Dave Green addressed Cabinet suggesting that members look to the historical evidence of the failure of previous privatisation projects, particularly with the railways. He was of the opinion that in the past, the public sector had only taken on the provision of services that the private sector had not wanted to be involved with.  The provision of public services by the public sector ensured that there was equal access to these services by people of all means. He felt that the hiring of consultants was a waste of money and was not convinced that the £100k quoted in the report would be the whole cost.

In response to questioning about the consideration of alternative ways to improve services and provide better value for money, Mr Green reiterated that service users should be consulted and that he could see no justification to privatise the services.

Ronald Mendel, President of the Northampton Trades Union Council, stated that his members of UNISON had most to lose with the proposed privatisation of services.  He called for evidence that the current services were not providing value for money and that privatised services would be better.  He also asked whether there would be pay cuts, job losses or hidden costs attached to the proposed scheme.

Councillor Beardsworth asked whether Dr Mendel had considered the possibility of working in partnership with other councils and Dr Mendel responded that it was his experience that this had previously led the way to widespread privatisation and was not a viable option under current circumstances.

Tony Skinner, President of Abington Community Association, addressed Cabinet. He explained that the Abington Community Centre had been built in 1949 as temporary accommodation and had been self-managed in partnership with the Council for 60 years. He was concerned that there would be increased costs to the Association that would have to be passed on to the Centre users and also pointed out that the report did not take into account previous investment by the Association for furniture, past repairs etc.  He called for wider consultation to take place before any decision was made.

In response to a question from Councillor B Hoare, Mr Skinner thought that the last review of community centres had been undertaken in 1978 when they were handed over from the County to the Borough Council.