The truth about privatisation

BRIDGENDB residents readingr the Glamorgan Gazette report (“Waste firm can’t be fined for h heatwave bins chaos”, A August 3) will feel angry they have absolutely no say over the quality of their local refuse collection.

Private firm Kier has been granted a sevenyear, £82m contract to collect rubbish and yet cannot be fined for service failure.

The crisis in Bridgend’s bin collection this summer has exposed the truth about privatising public services. The details of this grubby contract are now in the public eye. When things go wrong, residents are powerless and there is nothing the council can do either. There is no accountability.

Privatising public services spells disaster for local communities. The new private company has a free hand on profits which would otherwise have been reinvested in the community for the public good. Profit is transferred but not the risk.

Kier has to miss 2,500 refuse collections in a single month before it can be fined and the council must rely on Kier to report on its own performance. What a farcical situation.

Welsh councils are under intolerable pressure after years of savage UK Conservative Government spending cuts but outsourcing is not the answer. If Bridgend council directly controlled refuse collection the problem could have been resolved in a day or so.

We encourage Bridgend residents to protest and make their feelings known to their political representatives. Mark Turner Regional Organiser Unison Cymru Wales Cardiff