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Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

Next door is Council stock

There as been many attempts to fix leak in past

Council staff used to be on site for less than a hour

Contracts have been there most of week 

Seems Main contractor is up North

But seems they can afford to sub work out

When I first joined Haringey. Forty years ago,  It was jobs for Locals

Under current Ward Councillors. Seems most Services are being contracted out

Expect saving funds to cover their Glory hole / Town Hall update 

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What’s a glory hole update?

Civic Centre. Which seems the only place the Council is spending money on these days

Relieved to hear that meaning. 

Not the first meaning that came to mind  :-)

Well, you need something to pass the time between meetings

I'm a longstanding admirer of Bob's free imagist poetry. But this is a somewhat recherché metaphor for a Town Hall facelift. Glad to see I'm not the only one he's ruggled this time.

Most council capital works are sub contracted out. Homes for Haringey only looks after maintenance really. I spoke with some guys working on various jobs and they said their company was the third or fourth in line. The bid winner actually has no trades... They are a bid winning company that then "project manages" the jobs. As you can guess... Total mess... All the foot paths in the area they were working on were left with a gloss finish (in summer)... I then pointed out they would be death traps in winter. All dug up and relaid. Lots of other jobs done twice as well due to lack of supervision and low skills of the workers. So the end result will no doubt be lousy quality as they try to stem the bleeding from their earlier mistakes.

Compulsory competitive tendering (CCT) was one of the first policies brought in by the 79 Thatcher government, enshrined in the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980, and the Local Government Act 1988. This effectively made Council run Direct Labour Organisations (DLO) unviable. Since every job had to be tendered for, and you could not guarantee to win everyone, the work volume necessary to sustain a DLO was impossible to produce. DLOs closed in all councils nationwide, which was exactly the intention of the Thatcher government. CCT regulations have not really been removed.

DLOs had a mixed reputation. Generally they had better hours, guaranteed work, & pensions, but a lower rate of pay than private contractors. But they were also unionised and their participation in the ‘Winter of Discontent’ made them a target for the Conservatives. Friends who left DLOs reported to me they felt they could do a quality job in the DLO but that suffered when they went into the private sector where cost reduction and speed was the main aim.

Of the current Haringey Council, their manifesto promised to bring back jobs ‘in house’ for local people where that was legal and possible. Some of that aim has been achieved. The Labour members would all vote for a DLO if it were fully legal and possible, and quite possibly some Lib Dems would too.

But facts, hey, who needs them?

Charles. Last paragraph, states they promised to bring Jobs back in House

I am sure more Services have been out sourced under current Councillors

Noticed on recent pension statement, they have out sourced return mail, recently

Also aware that there has been much work carried out in last couple of years. Including foot paths. Notice they are several current Contractors carrying out Work

Plus notice several different contractors putting out extended pavement barriers

Surely work has to be tendered Out ?

When I joined the Council over 40 years ago. It was a Policy of Jobs for Locals.

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