Wednesday, November 04, 2015

THE COST OF SPENDING A PENNY IN BRIGG


The cost to the public purse of people spending a penny in Brigg town centre has been set for the next six months.  
For years, Brigg Town Council has paid North Lincolnshire Council to open the Cary Lane toilets on Sundays and bank holidays so local people "caught short" can use the conveniences, along with visitors, shoppers and tourists. 
These WCs are sited near a busy bus station and many a passenger has been glad to see the toilets open for business, so to speak! 
A worker is sent out to do the early morning unlocking and then to secure the WCs again later in the day.
However, it appears that Brigg Town Council had only been charged the cost of standard hours, even though double time rates applied.
Dialogue has taken place with the toilet owner and operator, North Lincolnshire Council, resulting in £594 being agreed to keep the toilets open each Sunday and bank holiday, excluding Christmas.
If you want the official wording: Brigg Town Council has approved the reinstatement service level agreement relating to Cary Lane Public Convenience on a pro-rata basis for the period from November 2015 until March 2016.
There will be discussions, no doubt, about how much spending a penny in Cary Lane's WCs should cost Brigg during the new council financial year, starting in early April next year.
Brigg Blog has always seen this as money well spent.  Unlike some WCs in public ownership, Cary Lane's does not have a turnstile to record how many people pay a visit. So we can't work out the cost in ps per pee.
  


1 comment:

Ken Harrison said...

Change the contract....cease any obligation with NLC....and re-establish with a new 3rd party.
There is NO obligation to pay double-time rates for Sunday working. However, most employers pay an enhanced rate of pay for working Sundays.
If BTC has got itself involved over double-time rates with NLC it would have to be stated in the contract.
My suggestion is for BTC to find a casual contractor.....ie a self-employed person, willing to undertake the task for a set annual sum.....at the moment NLC appears to acting as an unnecessary expensive middle-man....