NEW ways of saving cash in Burnley Council's housing repairs service were hammered out at a three-hour meeting.

Council bosses met tenants group leaders, trade union representatives and staff to look at ways of making the service, which is heading for a £60,000 deficit, more effective. Town hall chiefs have warned that up to 15 jobs may go in order to meet the shortfall.

Council housing chairman Rafique Malik said it had been a 'constructive' meeting at which a number of ideas for improving the repairs service had been received and discussed. A further meeting is to be held later this month with the same attendees to consider the alternatives.

A report to councillors this week says a study of repairs carried out by the in-house Burnley Maintenance Services unit shows the £2.1 million annual budget is the minimum required to provide a service "remotely like the one expected by tenants". The study has also revealed that the rising number of boarded-up houses on estates is eating up a higher proportion of the repairs budget than expected.

Trade imbalances in the workforce are also viewed with concern.

The report says there is a £370,000 backlog of outstanding repairs which needs to be reduced.

The report to tonight's housing sub-committee calls for a full review of the situation.

The principal purpose of the meeting, say officers, is to identify the problems within the repairs process that need to be resolved in order to speed up the service, improve quality and customer care and which are consistent with a financially viable service.

The report, however, states: "The level of outstanding repairs may only be partly attributable to the repairs process, but is more likely to be attributable to trade imbalances and lack of the required finance."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.