The scale of the threat is significant - catering, cleaning, security, property, refuse, cleansing, finance, benefits and many other services are at risk.
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://%22you%20cannot%20hide%20from%20the%20responsibility%20for%20the%20disaster%20privatisation%20will%20bring%22/) This goes alongside concerns about health and safety breaches by some and running contracts in Palestinian occupied territories.
While 1.5 million is being spent on trying to privatise services, only one tenth of that is being offered to deliver 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".
"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".
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.
The Public Services Industrial Complex is gearing up for the biggest pickings ever in a Scottish local authority with little or no public awareness or scrutiny. The next stages will be even worse as 'commercial confidentiality' kicks in and people get even less information about how their council tax will be spent.
See 10 REASONS WHY WE MUST KEEP EDINBURGH PUBLIC, UNISON's damning analysis of the Council's plans for more details.
