The Chair of Cleveland Police Authority has expressed his ‘total disbelief and frustration’ at the latest claims by Unison over the future of support services in the Cleveland Force—and says it seems the union ‘would prefer a reduced service and huge job losses because of its dogmatic refusal to contemplate working with the privates sector.’
Councillor Dave McLuckie said that once again Unison was suggesting that support services—including the handling of 999 calls—would be ‘privatised’—a claim which he stressed was simply untrue.
The Authority is currently considering the possibility of establishing a partnership with a private sector company for the delivery of support services, but has consistently made clear that responding to 999 calls would remain under police control—and that staff would have long-term guarantees, protecting their jobs and conditions.
Said Councillor McLuckie “I sometimes wonder if Unison live in the same world as those of us who have to face up to the realities of the current financial situation—and those thousands of people who have seen their jobs vanish. Are they not aware that across the country police authorities are having to consider major jobs cuts with the inevitable impact that will have on services?
“We do not want to see our staff lose their jobs and we want to see our services maintained and improved. It does seem possible that we could achieve this through the kind of partnership we are considering.
“Let us be clear—if we do go ahead with this proposal the 999 calls will continue to be handled by the same people as handle them at present, working from the same Control Room at the police headquarters and with control resting firmly with the police.
“Not only that but all staff involved in the partnership would have a ten-year guarantee maintaining their terms and conditions—and with a ten-year guarantee of no compulsory redundancies. I challenge Unison to name another group of workers on Teesside—indeed across the country—who enjoy that level of security at present.
“Unison say they have received nearly 4,000 thousand postcard opposing what they describe as the ‘privatisation’ of 999 calls. I’m not surprised because, if it was true that we were intending to privatise the 999 service, people would be entitled to be worried—but we are not.
“Throughout this process we have tried to keep our staff as fully informed as possible and we have tried to have a sensible dialogue with Unison. But their attitude can lead to only conclusion—they are so dogmatically opposed to working with the private sector that they really would prefer to see jobs lost and services reduced. It is a very sad—and very short-sighted.
“Throughout this process we have made it crystal clear that we will only go ahead with this proposal if it can be shown that it will deliver a more efficient—and improved--service and that the interests of staff will be protected. That remains the position.”
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