Council votes to end ABM plans

The City of Edinburgh Council voted last week to abandon the planned privatisation of some of their staff sectors.

The Council brought to an end the Alternative Business Model that it had been investigating since 2009. According to this model, the council would have outsourced some of their workstreams - such as maintenance, catering and human resources - to the Bristol-based company MITIE.

Had the plans been successful, the council would have signed a £170 million, seven-year contract with MITIE to outsource 2,000 members of the Council’s staff to the company.

Despite original uncertainty as to the outcome owing to a differing viewpoints within the SNP and the Liberal Democrat coalition, the SNP and Labour finally voted together against the ABM plans.

SNP group leader Steve Cardownie said after the Council meeting: “At the end of the day, having looked at the private sector bid versus the public sector comparator, we felt there was not sufficient advantage in going for the private sector bid.”

The plans were ruled out 31 votes to 23. Both the Conservatives - with exception of Councillor Gary Peacock - and the Liberal Democrats voted in favour of the privatisation plans.

Scotland’s biggest public service union, UNISON Scotland, welcomed the decision by Edinburgh City Council. UNISON branch President John Stevenson said:“This is the best outcome we could have got.

“We think it is right that quality public services are delivered by a public service team directly accountable to the people of Edinburgh through their elected councillors. We think it is right that our taxes should go directly to services, to the people who deliver them and the people who rely on them, rather than to profits and shareholders.”

UNISON had been vocal opponents of the proposed ABM in the lead-up to the vote.

The City of Edinburgh Council stated after the Council meeting that “officers will now focus on implementing a programme of improvement based on the vision set out in the Council's internal improvement plans for both areas.”

Sue Bruce, Chief Executive of the City of Edinburgh Council, said: "We now have clear council decisions on both workstreams and I look forward to working with the staff and trades unions representatives to deliver the improvements to which we have all now committed."

Investigations into the Alternative Business Model has cost the Council around £3.2 million since its first proposal three years ago.