Councillors urged to fight privatisation

The leader of the main opposition group on the city council has urged councillors to keep services in the public sector.

Members will be asked to decide on Thursday whether or not to outsource a series of environmental services including bin collections, street cleaning and ground maintenance.

The Labour group in the City Chambers, which has consistently opposed the Alternative Business Models (ABM) project that also includes two other services, has vowed to fight the proposals.

Labour group leader Councillor Andrew Burns said: “Thankfully, in no small part due to a truly excellent campaign led by Unison Edinburgh, the SNP/Lib Dem coalition took cold feet on October 27 and delayed a final decision on environmental services until the November meeting.

“Labour, and I’m sure the Greens, remain resolutely opposed to these plans and we’ll do our best to vote them down again. If just one of the local SNP/Lib Dem coalition groups joined us, the drive to privatise our vital public services would be dead in the water.”