COUNCIL staff in Warrington face being redeployed into new roles to ensure the town can cope with the unprecedented demand brought by coronavirus.

Town Hall bosses across the UK are carrying out skills surveys to see whether they can move employees towards caring for the vulnerable, running crematoriums and collecting bins, according to the Shared Data Unit.

Public sector unions are urging local authorities not to pressurise workers into taking on new roles and to carry out strict risk assessments for those facing being redeployed.

GMB’s national officer Karen Leonard said: “Any role changes should be a reasonable alternative that matches the skill set and knowledge as closely as possible.

“Everyone wants to help, but safety has to be a priority. Let’s apply some common sense.”

Warrington Borough Council says it is ‘working brilliantly’ with trade unions who have been supportive of the redeployment plans.

“We are in daily discussions with our trade union colleagues, sharing advice and making joint decisions on our workforce to ensure that we have the right people, in the right roles, providing the right level of support to the people and businesses in our town,” said a spokesman.

Jason Horan, joint branch secretary of Unison Warrington, believes local authority workers too often do not get the credit they deserve for their work helping vulnerable people.

He added: “Unison is in daily dialogue with officers of the council on the potential redeployment of staff across the council into various roles.

“Unison, along with the employer, has an obligation to protect our workforce and has robust practices in place prior to any redeployment of staff – this includes skills assessments, risk assessments and relevant training before any member of staff undertakes a different role within the council.

“Additionally, if staff are redeployed into another role, which they would have to be comfortable to undertake, then they will also be paid the appropriate rate of pay.

“We are in uncharted waters and Unison couldn’t be any prouder of all our council staff that continue to provide valuable services across the town.”