By Shaun Inguanzo
GREATER Dandenong residents face being lobbed with a decade of inferior services after councillors rejected an Australian first partnership between council and private enterprise.
That’s the view of disappointed Greater Dandenong CEO Carl Wulff after councillors this week voted to reject a Strategic Services Partnership (SSP) contract because of concerns of the impact it would have on service delivery and staffing.
The SSP contract, to be awarded to United Customer Management Solutions, would have seen the council pay the same amount of money for its services while its private partner provided the service with the view of making it more cost-efficient and reaping the profit.
Mr Wulff estimated the move would have saved up to $4 million in rate money over the 10-year contract, money needed to cope with ageing infrastructure and provide ongoing services to baby boomers.
But this week’s decision to avoid an SSP has won the praise of the Dandenong Residents’ and Ratepayers’ Association (DRRA) and council staff who feared their job entitlements were at risk.
Meanwhile, councillors John Kelly and Paul Donovan, who threw their support behind the project, could only debate fiercely as colleagues voted against the SSP. Cr Kelly told the chamber that councillors voted out of “fear of the unknown” and said the item should have been deferred until new councillors fully understood the complex idea of strategic partnering.
Touted as one of the biggest decisions affecting Greater Dandenong’s future, the SSP was one step from the contract being signed this week, with councillors and council staff having travelled to the United Kingdom last year to analyse similar set-ups.
Mr Wulff warned future services may not be up to the standard they could have been over the next 10 years under the SSP.
“I would be telling a lie to say I am not disappointed. I think it is a terrific concept,” he said. “It gave councillors the opportunity of the best of both worlds – protect staff but give the guarantee of service delivery into the future in what will be a different environment to operate in over the next 10 years.
“I would have to say overall this was an opportunity missed that would have delivered something better to the community than what we are likely to do in the future.”
But DRRA president Jim Houlahan said the group was delighted with the decision, and there was little wrong with the current system compared to what the SSP offered.
“The concept of bringing in a large multinational company to operate local government services … takes the local out of local government,” he said.
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Keysborough Ward councillor Roz Blades, who lead the charge to reject to the SSP, said she thoroughly read all material and reports provided to councillors before making her decision.
“The workforce is getting older, but … Greater Dandenong is a large employer, we employ a lot of people and I don’t imagine a city with this diversity having problems getting appropriate staff (in the future).”
Cr Blades refuted comments by Cr Kelly that councillors voted against the SSP due to “fear of the unknown”.
“My concern as a councillor was benchmarking (our SSP) against councils in the UK,” she said. “They are completely differently run from our councils…they have got 44 councillors (in one council), a leader of the house and a leader of the opposition – it is a parliamentary equivalent.”
