can they make our caretaker redundant?

superboobs

I'm very confused and more than annoyed, my housing association is making our resident caretaker redundant and I can't understand why, they say they have to make cut backs, but we the residents, pay his wages out of our rent!!!! But get this, there will be no reduction in our rent when he's gone. He has lived on our estate for over 21yrs doing a great job, we always know when he's on holiday as with more than 12 blocks of 6 flats on the estate the place soon becomes a mess and as with all estates, we get one or two problem families and he handles all complaints etc. So...can they sack our caretaker when it's the the tenants that pay his wages not the housing association???

Andy_L

Yes, unless your rental contract specifies they supply a resident caretaker. You don't pay the caretaker's wages, you pay rent to the HA, what they then do with that money (providing they fulfill their side of the contract) is totally down to them

superboobs

thanks for your reply! We pay a seperate charge for this service it's not in with the rent, we the residents asked for a caretaker 22yrs ago and we said we would pay for it, so they worked out how much it would cost and added it to our rent but as a seperate charge.

paddedjohn

if thats the case then make sure everyone stops paying this extra charge.
just loving the user name 'SUPERBOOBS'

getmore4less

Do you have a residents association?

They should kick up a fuss.

jazzyman01

Even if you do not have a residents association does not stop you getting a petition particularly if you have written evidence regarding the separate charge for his salary.

If nothing else they should be providing you with what they are going to do to replace the service he provides. As a group you might want to identify exactly what it is that he provides down to the last detail and insist that the service remains the same and it will be reviewed by the residents. You can also add that if the service is not the same then the residents have the right of withholding a sum of rent to enable you to get the job done. You need a briefing with a solicitor but spread around such a large group it should not amount to a huge sum.

hedgesparrow

I would go to a local paper to try to drum up support. This doesn't sound fair to me - not unless they charge you less for your rent. poor guy - hope it works out for him.

crafty*kate

How many residents are there that your service charge can cover his entire costs? If it was 22 years ago, are you all the same residents that asked for it initially?

Rent is rent, but your service charge is separate. You should be able to ask for a statement showing exactly what your service charge covers. Some things on service charges are not covered by Housing Benefit, so if you have a large number of people on HB it may be that the Housing Association is not receiving enough to cover the costs of the caretaker (I can't remember what is covered and what isn't). Also, there have been changes to the way Supporting People is funded - that may affect you?

I know a lot of Housing Associations are doing away with resident caretakers, wardens etc. Sadly it seems to be the way the market is going

superboobs

first of all...thank you everyone who replied to my post, i've been so busy since then trying to sort this out, I haven't had chance to come on here, but I appreciate all your replies! I have since found out that our housing association has employed a cleaning company to do his job???? Err...now i don't know much, but I thought that if you were made redundant, then that means that, your job no longer exists!!! So how can they bring in a cleaning company to do his job...doesn't make sense!!!! Anyway, I have drafted a petition which I am taking round my estate next week, then taking it to my housing association the week after, any advice is also appreciated concerning petitions, as this is the first time I have ever done one and I haven't a clue as to what I am doing! :eek:

getmore4less

depends if the caretaker was properly employed.

If he was then this might come under TUPE.


Have a look for any conflicts of interest with the new cleaning company and the HA.

superboobs

thank you 'getmore4less' yes the caretaker was properly employed and his wages came under a separate service charge, as I am a secure tenant, I get a breakdown of costs with my new rent every two years telling me exactly what my service charge covers, and, as 'crafty*kate' points out, yes, there are a few people on housing benefit, but the service charge is covered in full in the payment, so the HA is definitely receiving enough money to cover the costs or they wouldn't be able to employ a cleaning contractor in his place! 'getmore4less' please can you explain to me what TUPE means, and what should I be looking for concerning conflicts of interest, thank you!