Brian Ferguson: Hogmanay volunteer scheme misjudges the public mood

The torchlight procession has become one of the major attractions of the Hogmanay programme of events in Edinburgh.

It is just two years since the last major controversy surrounding the event, when its run-up was marked by public outcry over a ban on gathering on Calton Hill for the first time - under the guise of health and safety concerns.

The city seemed to wander into a PR nightmare of its own making and was forced into a climbdown the following year.

Last week, there was a sense of history repeating itself when the event found itself caught up in an exploitation row. As soon as it became clear new organisers were looking for 300 recruits for a volunteering initiative, it was obvious controversy would be on the cards.

So it proved, with cross-party anger from MPs and MSPs, condemnation from campaigners against zero hours contracts and exploitation in the hospitality industry, and unwelcome headlines for the city council, which is committed to paying the living wage.

On the face of it, the case against the city council and Underbelly, new organisers awarded an £800,000 deal this year, seems pretty clear cut.

The city’s winter festivals contract, captured by Fringe promoters Underbelly from long-time organisers Unique Events, has been cut by around £500,000.

Much of the annual budget is spent on the huge cost of hosting the Hogmanay street party and the torchlight procession the night before.

Bringing in hundreds of unpaid volunteers would seem an obvious solution, thereby avoiding the need to cut back on the main events or hike up ticket sales. But with concern over exploitation of workers and zero hours contracts at an all-time high in the UK, admitting to the above is not an option.

What Underbelly has proposed is a brand new team of “Hogmanay Ambassadors” to welcome, help and supervise crowds of revellers.

Much of the online anger over the initiative is because only meal vouchers and travel expenses are offered in return for shifts of up to 12 hours, as well as the need to attend up to two days of training.

Underbelly has insisted that the hundreds of volunteers will not be replacing professional stewards and staff “in any way.” But this begs the question as to why such a risky initiative is being introduced in the operator’s first year.

Both the company and the council point to a pilot volunteering programme staged across the city’s festivals, which was launched in the summer. However the £30,000 project, largely funded by the council, involved the recruitment of just 40 volunteers to “become the face of the festivals”. It was meant to complement existing volunteering schemes run by some festivals - none of which are anything like as large as the Hogmanay Ambassadors programme.

More worrying from a reputational point of view, the council did not appear to realise the scale and details of the Hogmanay venture until after it was launched. Council leader Adam McVey assured me hard questions are being asked, but this appears to be too little, too late. Damage has been done and its new unwanted image will be hard for Underbelly to shrug off.

The company insists there is no question of the volunteers programme being shelved or scaled back in the wake of the furore. If so, it can expect even more intense scrutiny over its stewardship from the media, parliamentarians and the council which is paying it to deliver arguably the city’s most prestigious event.