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UNISON has warned Scottish Infrastructure Minister Keith Brown that his plans for “community empowerment” risk privatisation of public services.
Speaking ahead of today’s Core Cities Summit, Mr Brown said: “Our approach to devolution does not stop at local authority level.”
“Through the Community Empowerment Bill we want to help shift the balance of power more towards communities.”
But in a submission to the government consultation on the Bill, Unison Scotland warned that plans risk privatisation of services — whether the provider is a community body, a charity or a private company.
“Both the Scottish and UK governments see community empowerment as a way to deliver services more cheaply,” the Unison submission warns.
“Where outsourcing services has saved money, it has been through cutting jobs, wages and the terms and conditions of the staff who deliver those services.”
