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UNITE is battling to stop the privatisation of the Ministry of Defence’s firefighters and workers by urging the government to rethink its decision to award the contract to Capita.
The government’s pledged today that it will assess all future central government outsourcing contracts on “social value.”
Cabinet Officer minister David Lidington announced that in the light of Carillion’s collapse early this year, it would amend the Social Value Act to require contracts to “explicitly evaluate social value where appropriate.”
Last week, it was announced that the government had awarded the 12-year MoD firefighters contract to Capita.
The union is warning that Capita is currently struggling with a poor financial forecast.
Unite assistant general secretary Gail Cartmail said that “if the government’s new pledge is going to have any value whatsoever then it must immediately reconsider its plans to privatise the MoD firefighters.
“There is absolutely no social value in awarding this contract to Capita, a company which has a risk factor of 10 out of 10 due to its dire financial situation.
“If social value means anything then dedicated defence workers should not have their lives and jobs privatised, with their futures dependent on the decisions of Capita which is solely focused on maximising its own profits.”