Cleaners on Merseyrail

That this House commends the work of station cleaners who work to ensure that Merseyrail services are hygienic, safe and pleasurable to travel on; further commends the Mayor of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Steve Rotheram for his decision to bring Merseyrail services into public ownership in 2028; notes with concern that cleaning on Merseyrail services is outsourced to Churchill Contract Services; is disturbed to learn that cleaners employed by Churchill on Merseyrail are now in dispute with their employer after the company refused to maintain current pay rates that sustain a 20p differential over the Living Wage; further notes with dismay that Churchill has paid out £57 million in dividends in the last two years; supports the Government’s promise to oversee the biggest wave of insourcing for a generation and agrees that the age of outsourcing is over; welcomes Mayor Rotheram’s support for insourcing the Churchill cleaners and believes that creating a single integrated Merseyrail workforce will be better for passengers, taxpayers and workers alike; and calls on Merseyrail to direct its contractor to resolve the dispute by agreeing to pay the 20p differential and to sit down with the RMT to agree a timetable for insourcing the cleaners at the earliest opportunity.