Glasgow outsourcing tax scam removes democratic control
and attacks fair pay
STUC: by Chris Bartter
UNISON has condemned Glasgow council’s increasing reliance
on outsourced trusts and Limited Liability Partnerships
(LLPs) to deliver public services. Around 15,000 staff are
employed by nine LLPs, trusts and partnerships in the city.
In a speech to the STUC, Mike Kirby, Scottish Convenor
and Chair of Glasgow City Branch, denounced the rush to
outsource services as a tax scam that abandons democratic
control, and allows the council to avoid its legal duty
to pay men and women equally.
Mike said, “A recent Glasgow Council report into these
‘arms length external organisations’ admits that these ALEOs
are a tax scam, that they lead to loss of democratic control
by councillors, and that they can avoid more equal pay claims
because they have fewer comparators. “So much for the Labour
Government’s public sector equality duty.”
Mike also pointed to the farce created by an earlier outsourced
organisation when the Glasgow Housing Association Ltd awarded
one of their repairs and maintenance contracts to a private
building company - Connaught - only to find they couldn’t
meet the contract specifications on covering the workforce
pensions.
Mike said, “Connaught had to be sacked and that workforce
returned to their previous employer, City Building, after
they spent two days travelling around the city - from Hampden
Park, to Connaught, to GHA, to Glasgow City Council.”
Moving the composite motion on Public Services, Mike pointed
to the huge waste of taxpayers money being paid to consultants
to recommend efficiencies and shared services. Billions
of pounds that should have been spent on the services themselves.
The composite will set out a charter to defend and build
on the public service consensus in Scotland. ..More
on STUC pages
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