LABOUR councillors have accused the Tories of making ‘scurrilous’ allegations over the housing service in Ellesmere Port.
They have also backed a union bid to gauge public opinion on the farming out of the management of Ellesmere Port’s 5,600 council homes by publishing a form they can return expressing support or opposition to the plans.
Senior Labour councillor Paul Donovan said: “We welcome the input from the trade unions recently in what is basically a straw poll of existing tenants to see what ordinary people feel about the outsourcing of the management of the housing stock, which includes lettings, rent collection, repairs (through a service provider) sheltered housing, wardens, anti-social behaviour, estate management etc as well as transfer of staff and will be pleased to see the results as it will give an alternative to the ‘top-down’ dictatorial attitude we have seen so far from the Tory executive.”
The Labour group believes that funding for the provision of council houses should be sought that meets local need in an area where the median earnings are £21,000 but average house prices are £159,500 and average weekly rent £137.
