ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

Angry business leaders in the UK cleaning sector have hit out after the Government failed to fully respond and agree to their demands for a meeting to discuss the findings in the recent Sue Gray report.

The British Cleaning Council (BCC) has twice asked to meet Cabinet Secretary Simon Case to discuss concerns over the lack of respect and poor treatment of cleaning staff identified by the report into parties at Number Ten Downing Street.

BCC is a trade association with 21 member organisations from across the cleaning, hygiene and waste sector.

Chairman Jim Melvin first wrote to Case to formally demand a meeting on May 25, immediately after the Sue Gray report was published and that was followed up by email. The initial letter was acknowledged but no other response has been received.

Melvin said: "After the appalling way cleaning staff were treated in Downing Street, surely it is not too much to expect to sit down and discuss what has been done about it with someone representing the Government?

"We need to be sure that this disgraceful scandal has been properly resolved and we need reassurances that cleaning staff in Government will be treated correctly in future. Instead we have been snubbed. We are very unhappy and disappointed.

"Given the lack of anything substantial in response to our request for a meeting, we can only assume that the ministerial statements and apologies over the way cleaning staff were treated were merely empty rhetoric.

"The Government appears to accept the treatment of cleaning staff with arrogance and disrespect, at a time when our hardworking and professional colleagues were on the frontline in the fight against the Covid pandemic and needed and deserved support and recognition. How can we possibly change this clear and unacceptable culture from our leadership, if they won't even meet with us?"

britishcleaningcouncil.org