Wirral council transfers FM to local groups

19 January 2009

Wirral Borough Council is to transfer the management including running facilities services of 24 community centres and village halls to "voluntary community management" over the coming year.

A spokesman for the council told FM World that the buildings will continue to be owned by the council. Staff now employed by the council, such as cleaners, security, and reception will be given choices where possible to transfer over to the new management, re-deploy within council administration or offered redundancy. There should be no job losses, he said.

The council will help community groups set themselves up to run the centres. They will decide on and run general administration, programmes for the public and also either run FM themselves or outsource it.

Negotiations are also underway to put the management of Leasowe Recreation Centre with a housing association. As well, 11 of Wirral’s 24 public libraries will close under the council's plans.

The reason for the move is to consolidate the council’s property portfolio, said the spokesman. The council is moving towards five "strategic hubs", where a modern building will include a combination of services and programmes for the public. These include council services for the public, a library, police, health and some recreation.

The demographics of the Wirral area have changed over the past 20 years, said the spokesman. More people have their own transportation and it is more economical for the council to consolidate its offering into fewer bur larger centres.

The Wirral peninsular is across the Mersey River from Liverpool and bounded by the River Dee estuary on the west. Towns include West Kirby, Hoy Lake and Birkenhead.