Three Angus recycling charities have formed a consortium to bid for an Angus Council contract, fearing failure to secure it could lead to job losses.
Arbroath-based Furniture Recycling Project Angus (FRPA) has joined the town’s Starter Packs Angus and Montrose Area Furniture Recycling and Distribution in an attempt to gain business from the local authority. The new group known as Angus Consortium of Recycling Charities (ACRC) has submitted a tender to supply 350 council-owned houses with furniture and household goods.
Andrew Dawson of FRPA said it is estimated the council will have to kit out 50 more households than it had originally expected this year. He added it was vital that ACRC gains the contract to keep the dozen workers employed by the three charities.
“Members of the new consortium have been supplying the council for years,” he said. “We can kit out the average family at a cost to the council of less than £500 but now we are being asked to compete against firms from across the European Union.”
Mr Dawson claims the council wants a “single supplier, doing the job for half the money.”
He added, “The three charities have long been supported by the people of Angus and, rather than throw things away, Angus folk have given us 140 tonnes of furniture and appliances a year. We also get crockery, cutlery, pots and pans, and bed linen for people in need.
“Between us the consortium employs 12 part-time people and gives work experience and on-the-job training to 40 volunteers, most of whom are hoping to move into paid jobs. If we lose the contract, many of these opportunities may go.”
The deadline for tenders passed last week and a decision from the local authority is expected at the start of April.
A council spokeswoman said, “Angus Council values the work of its partners in the voluntary sector and has invested substantial sums of money to help the sector prepare for this necessary procurement contract.
“The council is under a requirement to secure best value for the public pound. This area of work is valued at £140,000 over two years and is not a Europe-wide tender.
“However, given the substantial financial sums involved, an open tender is necessary to demonstrate best value for public money.
“As the projects are aware, the contract is also not for one single supplier and will be a call-off contract giving service users the ability to shop around, securing value for money and choice.”
The council came in for criticism at the end of last year after its neighbourhood services committee agreed to cut its help to tenants in need of furnishings by almost half.
The director of neighbourhood services’ proposal that spending in the sector should fall from £135,000 last year to £70,000 in 2011-12 was approved despite an admission that a similar number of people would need to be supplied.
Earlier this month FRPA unveiled a third warehouse at its base in Wardmill Road, allowing the group to double the size of its refurbishing and electrical appliance testing workshops and increase space in its existing sale rooms.
Last year the charity received more than £40,000 in Scottish Government grants to pay for upgrades and provide training for young people seeking jobs. Two of its sale rooms are open five and a half days a week, with people on benefits receiving a 20% reduction in prices.