Security staff who provide front of house assistance at three of the city centre council buildings will in future be directly employed by the council.
The Green group of councillors say this has long been their hope and the security staff who are currently G4S and Vigilant Protect employees at Waverley Court, the City Chambers and 249 High Street will be employed direct by the council in future.
Cllr Claire Miller, who has been pushing for this change, welcomed the move: “Our security personnel provide a vital service to the city, making sure that Council premises are safe for staff and visitors. Yet for years the Council has been content to hire them via private companies with a terrible track record on workers’ rights – denying them basic employment rights like sick pay and pensions. Over the past years, Greens have been taking every opportunity to call for our hardworking security staff to be in-housed, and we’re so pleased to see progress on this as last.
“It has been one of the nicest parts of the role so far to be able to tell our familiar faces who greet us each morning and see us off each night that the Council is finally going to be treating them properly as they deserve.”
Following the vote at the Committee, the 12 positions currently provided by third party companies will become in-house positions.
The Green group say the staff could be transferred to the Council payroll with no risk to their employment.
While the decision currently only impacts on staff at three council premises, this will be used as a pilot with potential to bring all security staff in-house, at an estimated cost of an additional £1 million per year made up of direct building cost £801,000 plus £200,000 for enhanced control room and supervision costs.
Cllr Alex Staniforth said: “While of course the council must make prudent decisions with public money, what we must remember is that when things seem cheap, it’s normally because somebody somewhere isn’t paying what they should. Making a saving by denying loyal workers their rightful terms and conditions isn’t the sort of thing that we should be doing as an employer who cares about justice and equality. This is a really positive move, and I hope we will see all staff in-housed soon and stop spending public money on private third parties who don’t share our values.”
The council report considered by councillors on Thursday makes it clear that this new arrangement was already under consideration in November 2024, long before the tragic death of a man inside council premises this summer.
