Rotherham housing shake-up will save £9m

THE COMPANIES selected to take over Rotherham's housing maintenance contracts will save £9 million over five years, a leading cabinet member claimed this week.

Cllr Jahangir Akhtar, Cabinet member for housing and neighbourhoods, revealed the figure following the decision to appoint Morrison Facilities plc and Wilmott Dixon Partnership to take over the council housing contract from crisis-hit 2010 Rotherham Ltd.

Cllr Akhtar said that 2010 Rotherham had been “overspending” and promised that the new providers, who will take on the £100 million contract from October, would clean-up the service.

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Cllr Akhtar said: “It’s a good idea because there has been an overspend every year with the current in-house service provider.

“Because we have been overspending, this new contract will save us £9 million which is a considerable amount of money.

“In this climate it’s really important that we get the best value for money.”

Cllr Akhtar assured workers that jobs affected by the privatisation of the service are secure, although there may be management cuts.

He said: “Most of the existing positions will be transferred over without any jobs going.

"There may be some rationalisation, however, in management contracts.”

 

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