Housing maintenance workers at Somerset Council are lobbying councillors over plans to transfer staff to a building services contractor that has received three sanctions from the council over the quality and safety of its work.

UNISON says the council wants to move electricians, plumbers and other maintenance workers to the MD Group as part of a wider transfer of housing staff to council-owned housing provider Homes in Somerset (HiS).

The union says staff were not consulted on the proposals and that councillors were asked to approve the move without being told maintenance workers would be transferred to MD Group.

A spokesperson for the council said that while the council is proposing a transfer of its management and maintenance activities to HiS, a wholly owned company, a decision to outsource to MD Group, which provides building services to HiS, has not been taken.

The lobby takes place today ahead of an audit committee meeting at County Hall in Taunton, where an external auditor's report highlighting failings in Somerset Council's governance, financial sustainability and contract management will also be discussed.

UNISON branch secretary Micheál Duffy said decisions affecting public services must be made ‘openly, transparently and with proper scrutiny,’ with staff and tenants needing confidence that the weaknesses identified by auditors have not been repeated in the transfer process.

A spokesperson for Somerset Council said: ‘Somerset Council is proposing a transfer of its management and maintenance activities to Homes in Somerset, a wholly owned company.

‘The report to council on 11 March 2026 was clear on the decisions made by councillors following the independent review undertaken by housing specialists, Savills.

‘This identified the opportunities and benefits to tenants of having a single management and maintenance process for all of the Somerset Council housing stock.’