19
Jan 2012: Edinburgh
dumps privatisation plans:
"This is the best outcome
we could have got - following
the victory in November
for keeping Environmental
Services public, and the
recent abandonment of the
ruling group's plans to
privatise Corporate and
Transactional Services,
says John Stevenson.
6
Jan 2012: Unity
call over privatisations
(Evening News)
Trade union leaders have
called for the same “unity
of purpose” from members
in an attempt to defeat
more council privatisation
plans.
24
Nov 13.30:
Edinburgh Council votes
to keep Environment Services
in-house:
SNP, Labour and Greens carry
vote to back the best value
in-house option. Well done
unions, workers, councillors
and the public who supported
us. But two more huge privatisations
coming up on 22 December.
Keep up the campaign. Our
City's Not For Sale.
Why
the in-house option is
'best value' THE
RIGHT CHOICE FOR THE RIGHT
REASONS
UNISON issues briefing
on why the In-House Environment
Option is 'best value'
and should be supported
by the Council: UNISON
examines all the privatisation
issues in a detailed briefing
to councillors and urges
a decision made on 'best
value' for the people
of Edinburgh
(PDF document)23
Nov
Our
City's STILL Not For Sale: 27
Oct: UNISON's campaign has
led to the vote on privatisation
of capital's rubbish collection
being delayed with Councillors
given another month to consider
'new information' before deciding
on the future of the service.
The campaign goes on! See
STV News
TAXPAYERS
WILL PAY FOR EDINBURGH PRIVATISATION
GAMBLE UNISON has
condemned Edinburgh council for
gambling with jobs and services
as it sets out plans today to
sell off the city’s essential
cleansing, waste and award winning
parks services.21 October
2011more>>
PRIVATISATION:
ACT NOW! Public
Meeting 7pm Mon 24 October,
Appleton Tower, Edinburgh University Lobby the Council: 08.30-10.00
Thurs 27 October, City Chambers,
High Street
Labour
MP Sheila Gilmour and Councillor
Ricky Henderson sign the pledge More
photos on Picasa
Launch
of Privatisation Pledge with giant
Pledge card Politicians across
the Edinburgh and Lothian area were
asked to sign the Privatisation Pledge
on the Mound at 11.30 am on Saturday
15 October.
It read: I think it
s best that vital public services
are delivered efficiently by public
servants, not private companies. So
I m very concerned about plans for
wholesale privatisation of large swathes
of Edinburgh Council services under
the Alternative Business Models (ABM)
process - especially since allowing
bidders to close the pension scheme
means that there s not a level playing
field for the in-house bid. Until
there has been full public consultation
and proper scrutiny I will oppose
any moves by City of Edinburgh Council
to appoint private companies to do
its core work for it
more>>
Neither the SNP nor Lib Dems -
who run the council - said they
would privatise our services but
now they're heading for a £1billion
sell-off. Demand that your
councillors consult with the citizens
of Edinburgh
Edinburgh Council wants to push
through the largest privatisation of
council services in Scottish history.
ACT NOW!
SIGN THE ONLINE PETITION. CONTACT
YOUR COUNCILLOR.
Neither the SNP nor Lib Dems - who run
the council - said they would privatise
our services but now they're heading
for a £1billion sell-off.
Demand that your councillors consult
with the citizens of Edinburgh
OUR
CITY'S NOT FOR SALE:
Sign our online petition - click here Latest Petition
Comment:"As
a citizen of Edinburgh I am concerned
and worried at the prospect of the privatisation
of Council services which currently
provide good value for money, jobs for
the people of Edinburgh and surrounding
areas. Privitisation of public services
has resulted in the very costly trams
project and the Southern Cross situation
in England".
PRIVATISATION
of Edinburgh City Council Services
PUBLIC CONSULTATION
Augustine Church, George IV Bridge,
Edinburgh Monday 27th June 2011 6-8pm Click
here for details
Pressure
mounts as council drives to privatisation
The campaign against privatisation is
stepping up as the Council faces critical
decisions in the coming weeks.
6 June 2011: >>more
24
Sept 2010: Edinburgh:
not for sale UNISON UK site
- The campaign to protect jobs and services
in Edinburgh steps up a gear this autumn
ahead of the city council making public
its plans to privatise services which
will at least 3,500 jobs at risk.
THE DANGERS OF PRIVATISING SERVICES:As Connaught's administrators try to get services
brought back in house, questions are
asked about the firms accountancy methods.
This firm had passed Edinburgh's finance
checks! see more on the unofficial UNISONActive
blog
Selling
Edinburgh off will come at great cost
to us all
Letter in Evening News 29/7/10
In an otherwise enlightening article
on council funding and privatisation
(Counting the cost of public sector
cuts, News, July 27), Rory Reynolds
spoils it when he says "the status quo
is unsustainable".
Thank goodness the government after
the Second World War was not so defeatist.
At that time the national debt (as a
percentage of Gross Domestic Product)
was three times the current debt.
Yet the country managed to create the
NHS, create proper pensions and instigate
the biggest social housing programme
ever seen.
By all means report on the current
financial crisis facing the council,
but don't fall for the Con-Lib spin
that there is no alternative.
Let's have a real debate about the
so-called 'crisis'. Let's learn from
the rebuilding in the USA after the
depression.
If Edinburgh is sold off, it will not
just be the essential public services
that are cut, but the thousands of businesses
that rely on them.
Sold off to multinationals with no
base in the city, not for efficiency
but for profit - and to allow councillors
to pass the buck and say, "it was the
big company that didn't deliver, not
us".
The cuts we face are ideological, not
financial. We need to wake up to that.
John Stevenson,
President,
UNISON, City of Edinburgh Branch
31
May 2010: 5.5m of taxpayers
money wasted on consultants. (See
Evening News storyhere)
John Stevenson: "This
is a council that has already spent
6m on consultants so, in the space of
18 months, 7m has gone on nothing. The
priority should be investing in front
line services."
He also said not enough was being done
to investigate whether an alternative
in-house bid could be drawn up.
"If they spend 1m on how to privatise,
we think they could spend a fraction
on speaking to people in-house and seeing
how they can make the service better."
"You
cannot hide from the responsibility
for the disaster privatisation will
bring"
Branch Officers told councillors
on 24 June that they 'cannot hide from
the responsibility for the disaster
privatisation will bring', as they outlined
UNISON's concerns about plans to move
to the next stage of the process to
outsource up to 3,500 jobs.
UNISON condemned the risk posed to
local services and jobs created by the
plans to privatise key sections of the
council. The scale of the threat is
significant - catering, cleaning, security,
property, refuse, cleansing, finance,
benefits and many other services are
at risk.
We believe the private sector will
increase service costs including service
charges to you, while offering a poorer
quality service - not to mention the
real risks to jobs, pay and conditions.
In addition, three out of five
of the companies known to be shortlisted
for the facilities contract, and the
parent company of one shortlisted for
the environment contract, were fined
by the Office of Fair Trading in 2009
for 'illegal bid-rigging' . They were
fined a total of around £40million
(see http://www.oft.gov.uk/news-and-updates/press/2009/114-09)
This goes alongside concerns about health
and safety breaches by some.
While 1.5 million is being spent
on trying to privatise services, only
one tenth of that is being offered to
delivering an 'in-house' option.
At this morning's rally, UNISON's Kevin
Duguid told members, "The councillors
are burying their heads in the sand
hoping that when it all goes wrong,
they can blame the officials. We are
going to be telling them that you cannot
hide from the responsibility for the
disaster privatisation will bring".
"These services will run to over £100
million for 7-12 year contracts. That
would put the trams shamble into the
shade", warned Kevin.
"The public is not getting to know
about this shambles, about the companies
that will bid for our services and about
the costs - but if the Council won't
tell them, UNISON will make sure they
know".
We have excellent services in Edinburgh
and we need another Tram fiasco like
a hole in the head. So join our campaign,
distribute the petition, display a poster
and come to our meetings to help us
develop an alternative vision for local
jobs and services.
The Labour Group has put forward an
amendment which would have made for
a meaningful in-house bid and demanded
real figures from the council rather
than the current guesses on possible
savings.
25
March 2010: Threatened
Staff Win UK Award If It Ain’t Broke – Don’t Fix
It: Staff at the City of Edinburgh
Council, who face wholesale privatisation,
have just received a UK award for delivering
efficiencies that are unrivalled across
the UK.
UNISON has launched a campaign against
'reckless' council plans to sell-off
services and over 3,000 jobs. (24
March 2010)
The "Our City's Not For Sale" campaign
will work with other unions, community
groups and the public to expose the
dangers of the council's 'alternative
business models'.
"Services like front line customer
contact, revenue and benefits, catering,
cleaning, security, cleansing and vehicle
and grounds maintenance, along with
HR are all up for grabs with cultural
services, transport and legal services
also being primed for outsourcing through
multi-million pound 'strategic partnerships'
or 'joint ventures' - privatisation,
to you and me", said Agnes Petkevicius,
UNISON Edinburgh Branch Secretary.
"UNISON's own studies have revealed
that, at best, council claims about
savings are wishful thinking. No credible
evidence exists to support them. Worse
still, the evidence that does exist
points to failures, worse services,
increased costs and huge bills to bring
failed services back in-house.
"To go ahead with this, in an exercise
likely to top £1million wasted on consultants,
without learning the lessons of the
social care tendering fiasco is nothing
short of reckless".
"If services are delivered in-house
with no need to make a profit, how can
they be delivered more cheaply while
making a profit on top? Something has
to give and that is usually the quality
of the service or indeed the whole service
- along with any decency in the pay
and conditions of those delivering the
service", added Branch President John
Stevenson.
"You still pay your taxes but instead
of the money going on the service and
those who deliver it, it goes to company
profits. Like the banks, or even perhaps
the trams contract, these companies
will become 'too big to fail' and will
have the council over a barrel. It is
time for the council to abandon these
plans and concentrate on efficient and
quality services in-house".
UNISON lead negotiator Kevin Duguid
said, "The union has stressed that it
is always ready to fully engage with
the council on better and more efficient
ways of delivering quality services.
"However, the refusal to seriously look
at in-house options means there is no
real attempt to look at improving services,
just a headlong drive to privatise".
"Nowhere is this more evident than
the council leaving key issues out of
the tendering advert like bidders having
to comply with legal requirements such
as the equalities duty, Climate Change
Act etc, in case it deters them from
applying".
"Staff are demoralised at how they
are being treated with their jobs being
sold from under them to the lowest bidder
who will cut their terms and conditions
to deliver profits for their shareholders
first, with service delivery coming
second."
Why
the in-house option is
'best value'
Ten
reasons why City of Edinburgh
Councillors should oppose privatisation
If
the need hasn't gone away, why should
the services? Lobby against the
cuts: Thurs 10 February 2011 City Chambers,
High Street. 
Branch Officers told councillors
on 24 June that they 'cannot hide from
the responsibility for the disaster
privatisation will bring', as they outlined
UNISON's concerns about plans to move
to the next stage of the process to
outsource up to 3,500 jobs.
UNISON has launched a campaign against
'reckless' council plans to sell-off
services and over 3,000 jobs. (24
March 2010)
facebook group City Not For Sale
