Government plans to outsource public service provision to independent employee-led mutuals should be subject to a ballot of employees and not be 'forced through' against their will, Co-operatives UK and the TUC have warned.
The two umbrella groups - representing co-operatives and unions - say that ministers should not ignore the views of workers in their drive to mutualise services.
To date, around 70 public service mutuals have been formed, controlling public expenditure of over £1 billion. Whilst there have been some examples of good staff engagement, the TUC and Co-operatives UK are concerned that not enough public sector mutuals offer employees a genuine voice in the formation or the running of the new business.
The TUC and Co-operatives UK have signed up to a historic joint set of best practice guidelines setting out the conditions that should be in place to ensure that public service mutuals are based on employee support and offer genuine employee ownership and representation.
The guidance calls for the government to establish quality standards in its programme of public service mutualisation and outlines a set of principles agreed between trade unions and representatives of the co-operative and mutual sector.
The guidance addresses concerns in five key areas where the two organisations have identified best practice for successful mutualisation:
- workforce engagement and consultation in the process
- governance and democracy in the mutual
- commissioning of services
- safeguarding of public assets
- employment standards
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