This conclusion, part of a long-awaited report into staff attitudes obtained by Housing Today, will be welcomed by councils trying to convince sceptical staff and tenants of the value of stock transfer.
Based on 750 responses to a questionnaire sent to staff at registered social landlords and phone surveys with 96 RSLs and 75 councils, the report – written by Iris Consulting and market researcher MORI – rejects the idea of a "two-tier" workforce in transfer associations.
Roughly two-thirds of respondents who transferred from councils to associations considered that they were no worse off. They agreed that terms and conditions were "different … among large-scale voluntary transfer associations [but] do not accept the term 'two-tier' because it implied one was higher or better," said the report.
Commissioned by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in early 2001, its release was delayed by the Communities Plan and continuing discussions with public sector union Unison over two-tier workforce issues.
A spokesman for the ODPM confirmed that the report would be published "shortly" after ministerial approval had been granted.
Unison proposed the research after its own study found evidence that associations were reducing union recognition and offering less attractive conditions to new employees.
However, unions have criticised the report for failing to gather quantitative data on pay and pensions. One source said: "There's no information on how a generic position like that of a housing officer has been affected."
Pointing to a drop in union recognition among LSVT associations, he added that the report would "inadvertently undermine confidence in transfer among council staff".
John Harvey, managing director of Iris, said the quantitative data would have been difficult to gather and exceeded the ODPM's brief.
Source
Housing Today
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