The council is deep into negotiations with Propel Partnerships to set up a strategic services partnership that will streamline operations, particularly customer service.
The move is in response to the State Government’s demand that councils become “fit for the future” if they do not want to face amalgamations.
Council CEO Carl Wulff said the arrangement would ensure that the council, despite significant population growth, could keep costs at existing levels.
“Under this arrangement, keeping costs down would be achieved by refining day-to-day operations and systems,” Mr Wulff said. “The partnership would complement the current employees’ knowledge base with additional skills and intellectual property.”
He said, despite fears, there would be no job losses and workers would continue to work for Liverpool Council.
But workers are not yet convinced, holding a stop work meeting when they found out about the plan.
United Services Union secretary Graeme Kelly told the Sydney Morning Herald the arrangement would be “a launching pad for this private operator to cannibalise work from surrounding local government areas“.
Mr Kelly said staff did not believe there would be no job losses.
Council decided to accept Propel’s tender on February 4 and is due to receive another report before the end of April when they will decide whether to go ahead with the partnership.
Strategic Service Delivery Partnerships have been widely adopted throughout the UK, Europe and the US.
In Australia there are partnerships at Ipswich and Mackay and Marrickville is on its client list. Carl Wulff introduced a similar deal with Propel in his previous role as CEO of Ipswich Council.
He registered a formal conflict of interest when Liverpool Council was considering the deal with Propel to ensure absolute transparency, a council spokeswoman told WSBA.
