What is Lambeth Council proposing?
Not content with going ahead with an ALMO despite massive opposition from tenants, Lambeth Council is pushing through plans to privatise the services provided to tenants dressed up in the harmless sounding name “Partnering”. Private companies will bid for ten-year contracts to carry out all manner of services, some which are already privatised under smaller contracts (such as repairs and maintenance, graffiti removal and garbage collection), and others which are currently carried out in-house (such as grounds maintenance, out-of-hours repairs and the Lambeth Service Centre). What will this mean for services? Even if “Partnering” were to save money, it seems likely that this would be at the expense of the high quality services tenants and leaseholders need and deserve, with contractors seeking to cut corners wherever possible in order to keep costs down and maximise profits, rather than investing in high quality materials and the high level of service which would provide the greatest va
