Edinburgh ‘to privatise 2,000 council jobs’
Jenny Dawe branded the previous plans 'totally irresponsible' but Sue Bruce believes the proposed partnership will 'bring investment to the service.' Photos: Dan Phillips & Julie Bull
About 2,000 staff at Edinburgh city council face having their jobs transferred to a private firm under a new round of plans to save the authority tens of millions of pounds.
Two months after an attempt to privatise bin collections and street cleaning was thrown out by councillors, officials want to outsource services provided by janitors, catering staff, cleaners and porters.
A £170 million, seven-year contract with Bristol-based firm Mitie has been lined up under proposals that the council claims would save more than £51.5m over the same period.
However, there is huge uncertainty over whether the plans will go ahead, because of opposition within the SNP group on the council to the prospect of jobs being privatised.
Union leaders have vowed to protest at the City Chambers next week in an effort to have the plans thrown out.
A separate report, if approved, would see the council continue to run all corporate services, covering more than 800 human resources, payroll and IT staff.
The opposition from the Nationalists, who are in coalition with the Lib Dems in Edinburgh, led to the rejection of the previous plans, which were branded “totally irresponsible” by council leader Jenny Dawe.
The proposals were aimed at saving the council up to £72m, compared with an “in-house” alternative of £45m.
Mitie, a FTSE 250 company, delivers a range of cleaning, security and energy services for both public and private sector organisations and already employs 8,000 staff in Scotland.
This summer, the group landed a contract to provide support for events at Edinburgh Castle. It has cleaned the Scottish Parliament since 2004, and recently began providing cleaning services at Stirling Castle.
Mitie also works with the Scottish Prison Service, Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Life Investments.
Mitie said yesterday it would set up a subsidiary called Vital Edinburgh, headquartered in the capital and supported by local partners Atkins and Lambert Smith Hampton, to service the contract, which would also cover school meals, the council’s helpdesk and an elected members’ inquiry service.
Councillors will be told next week that Mitie’s bid would secure £51.5m worth of savings over seven years, plus a possible further £63m worth of savings.
In a report for the council, chief executive Sue Bruce said: “The proposed partnership is anticipated to deliver significant service improvements, bring investment to the service and meet efficiency objectives.
“The proposals are anticipated to make a significant contribution to bridging the funding gap within the council’s long-term financial plan.”
SNP group leader Steve Cardownie, the deputy council leader, said: “We will examine these proposals in great detail over the next few days before our group meeting on Tuesday.
“There has to be clear indications that it would be better going for the private-sector bid. We have already said we are predisposed to provide work in the public sector and that there is a presumption against private- sector contracts, but at the end of the day each group will have to come to its own conclusions on this.”
Ms Dawe could not be contacted for comment.
A spokesman for Mitie said: “Mitie Group is pleased to announce that it has been recommended as the preferred bidder by Edinburgh city council for its integrated facilities management contract.
“The recommendation is for Mitie to enter into a partnership contract with the council for the next seven years.”
However, John Stevenson, president of the Edinburgh branch of the trade union Unison, said: “This is the fundamental infrastructure, and though they appear to be back-room services, they are actually the nuts and bolts.”
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Comments
There are 40 comments to this article
Page 1 of 3
AuldLochinvar
Monday, January 16, 2012 at 01:18 AMHere in the USA the idea of privatisation has gone so far that private contractors like Halliburton (ex vice president Dick Cheney's ex-firm) are doing some of the stuff in Afghanistan and Iraq that regular soldiers would be doing at far less expense. Privatisation of public work is very expensive in the long run, as is private, corporately run medicine.
duelaynomore
Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 01:17 AMAs an ex civil servant I agree with No.37's sentiments. Private companies only do what they are contracted to do, and when privatisation occurrs it is often the original person who is re-employed on the new job with working conditions virtually the same as before, but usually less salary, and less security of tenure. Consequently the new workforce has less desire to help out the organisation, as they work for another company. Another facet of privatisation which occurrs is that the process is driven by bean counters, who have little practical knowledge of work other than with a keyboard, pencil or pen, and when their proposal is placed before the decision makers (who have forgotten how the work jobs are actually done), they delegate the writing of the job descriptions to a junior. The privatisation company then discusses with senior managers, the meaning of terms and managers then adjust the proposal having consulted the staff (biggest euphamism ever used these days), and been bamboozeled by the flash terminology used by "modern business parlance". Too much salary, times too little brain, equals cluster Duck.
Jolly
Saturday, January 14, 2012 at 09:39 PMPrivatise as much as possible right away!!! Long overdue!!
Evey
Saturday, January 14, 2012 at 04:06 PMWhen Kaimes School lost its roof the staff that were involved in the emergency works to save resources and furniture and worked extremely hard to prepare other premises and relocate all classes in order to open on Monday are all the same staff that will be outsourced. Would a private company have stood up to the plate like that? Mitie were brought in by the Council before the summer to conduct works at a lot of schools over the holiday period the Councillors should consult with them before voting. The move of bringing them in before June looks like they were already determined to outsource before the decision was voted on.
Dennisarowe
Saturday, January 14, 2012 at 03:12 PMIt never ceases to amaze me how organisations get conned every time with the promise of savings by private contractors who also have to make a profit. No one audits them when in the future costs have risen and savings are not realised.
Lynn
Saturday, January 14, 2012 at 01:14 PMCorporations are taking over the world now. The 99% of humanity need to stop them before it is to late. From most comments before me, not all are asleep or being coerced into submission by the self proclaimed "elite". Soul suckers and mind numbers is what they want to be. Human spirit tells us not to fall into their traps. Prisons in the US are now mostly private owned just like GITMO, and FEMA camps, waiting to enslave us. They are insidious. Elections are not private.
Take 5
Saturday, January 14, 2012 at 12:26 PM#13 and others. You ask how a private contractor could make the savings and the Council can't. If the Council were to closely examine the quality and performance of the managers who supervise the workforce in the various sectors, they might find that some changes of personnel would start to produce big savings. There needs to be a bit more of a "kick ass" philosophy from management in order to up productivity and efficiency. As things stand, everyone just coasts along, and in many instances, any old standard will do. It's all too comfy! Disciplinary procedures for dealing with slackers should be simplified (with union consultation), and it made clear that below par performance can result in dismissal. Up the anti! Crack the whip! Kick ass! By the way, I would like to know how much the consultants were paid to advise the council on the tendering process. Who were the consultants, and have any brown envelopes been used?
SteyBrae
Saturday, January 14, 2012 at 11:57 AMQuote: "A separate report, if approved, would see the council continue to run all corporate services, covering more than 800 human resources, payroll and IT staff." 800 folk doing HR, payroll and IT !! Shurely shome mishtake!!!
Tintock Pete
Saturday, January 14, 2012 at 11:51 AMPrivatisation does work but not in Scotland as our elected members could not run a ménage. Scottish councils need to be dragged into the twentieth century first and Sue Bruce should go back to the ironing board.
B K
Saturday, January 14, 2012 at 11:21 AM#30 "Tram" is certainly a four letter word in Edinburgh!
Pilrig.
Saturday, January 14, 2012 at 11:18 AMPending moderation ? There was no swearin' or anythin' libelous in what I wrote ! Mebbe 'trams' is now deemed a swear word ?
B K
Saturday, January 14, 2012 at 11:18 AMPrivatisation has never saved anyone a single penny. It just results in a worse service for more money, and a few greedy people getting rich at the expense of the taxpayers.
'smise
Saturday, January 14, 2012 at 11:17 AMWhy oh why must we ignore cleaning firms in Edinburgh - in Scotland? Surely there must be local cleaning firms willing and able to provide such a service.
Pilrig.
Saturday, January 14, 2012 at 11:16 AMPending Moderation
Pa broon
Saturday, January 14, 2012 at 11:07 AMI am sure politics will take priority over the prudent running of the cities finances. As someone said earlier lets start weeding out the nice to have things from what we really need. The Trams were certainly in the first category but we have been stitched up on that front and it's to late to change it. Maybe we should get rid of affiliated councilors at the next election and have only independents. Then party politics will no longer be a factor and the job will get done properly....
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