Local Authority (Standards of Service) (Hansard, 27 March 1984)

§ Mr. Nicholas Brown (Newcastle upon Tyne, East)

I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to provide for the maintenance of standards of service where local athorities place public services out to competitive tender. The Bill does not seek to deal with the issues of principle involved in the privatisation argument. Its narrow purpose is to enable local authorities and other public sector authorities to deal with a range of practices which I am sure the whole House would consider unacceptable. It is, for example, clearly unfair that a reputable private sector builder who adheres to nationally agreed terms and conditions of employment should fail to win work in competitive tender because he is undercut by an unscrupulous rival exploiting high unemployment by wage-cutting and the use of the black economy.

To continue the same example, it surely cannot be acceptable to any Member of the House that Government youth employment schemes should be used to enable private sector contractors to reduce the wage element in their tender. Not only is it obviously unfair to other contractors and exploitation of the young people themselves, but it can be downright dangerous. I think in particular of a recent example in Newcastle where an electrical contractor was caught using youngsters on a job creation scheme to rewire council houses. No credit is due to the supervision of the housing department in Newcastle. It did not catch the contractor. He was caught by local tenants worried about going back to their houses when the work was finished and by an official of the EEPTU whom they contacted to have a look at the job. The purpose of my Bill is to outlaw that sort of conduct.

Breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act can also lead to unfair competition. The contractor who puts up scaffolding, catwalks and hoists to a roof is clearly at a tremendous price disadvatage if he is competing with a contractor who sends his men up an unfooted ladder to walk along the roof, perhaps breaking up the lats—but of course that would not be found out until later—and throw the broken tiles off the roof. He saves money on the hoist and it is clearly quicker, but it is bad luck on anyone standing underneath. The House must be concerned with the protection of the whole of our society and not just with the narrow issue of getting the job done as quickly as possible.

One of my constituents in Shieldfield was recently surprised when a painter came in through her double-glazed windows feet first. Since she lives at the top of a high-rise block of flats, the visit was something of a surprise. The painter was working for a private contractor and his hoist had given way. The only way to save his life 146 was to jump through the window. But why was the equipment not properly checked, and why was he not wearing a personal safety harness? It is the duty of public authorities to take these matters into consideration when awarding tenders.

Equally, it is my view and that of my supporters that ratepayers must be protected against price rings. Where there is a reasonable suspicion that a public authority is not getting competitive prices but is being held to ransom, that authority should have the power to use its own direct labour force to ensure competitiveness. This point applies particularly to work where the labour cost is the main price element in the total cost.

The Bill will place a more exacting requirement on public authorities to take reasonable steps to satisfy themselves that contractors are financially sound. An authority must satisfy itself that a contractor has the financial backing to sustain the work for which he has contracted. If the contractor collapses halfway through the contract, the taxpayer inevitably receives the costly bill. It is our purpose to outlaw unacceptable working practices that endanger the quality of the work or the safety and welfare of the work force or general public.

There are two other related matters. The first is a minor provision to require public authorities to take into account the administrative cost to the authorities when considering where to place contracts, and that especially applies to minor works. The second relates directly to the day-to-day maintenance of public sector housing.

The Bill will place a duty on a housing authority to make provision for a direct interface between the officer responsible for managing the housing stock and the building contractor. That would be quite separate from the emergency procedures. It is intended to enable the housing authority, as landlord, to obtain a swift response to a particular repair, even if it would not usually be classed as an emergency.

I hope that hon. Members will welcome the Bill because it is intended to be of assistance to private business, ratepayers, council tenants and public authorities alike.