Branch urges members to get along to council meetings about alternative service delivery model for sport and culture

The branch is encouraging all affected members to get along to a series of meetings arranged by Aberdeenshire Council in the run-up to the next EL&L Committee.

This committee will consider a report from the project board which includes a commissioned report from Ernst and Young on an alternative service delivery model for sport, culture and community learning and development. The branch will be represented at all these meetings to hear what you think.

Four alternative models that were considered have been narrowed down by the Project Board to the creation of a charitable trust, which would deliver sport and cultural services on behalf of the council, (also known as an Arms Length External Organisation or ALEO) and the potential of an enhanced status quo model through which those services would continue to be directly delivered by the council.

The meeting dates are as follows:

• North (Fraserburgh CSC) – 11am – 12pm Tuesday, 25 October
• North (Peterhead Community Theatre) – 3 – 4pm Tuesday, 25 October
• Central (Meldrum Academy) – 3.30 – 4.30pm Wednesday, 26 October
• Central (Inverurie Town Hall) – 6 – 7pm Monday, 24 October
• South (PFR Room, Banchory Academy) – 6 – 7pm Tuesday, 25 October
• South (Mearns Community Campus) – 6 – 7pm Wednesday, 26 October

On 27th October EL&L committee members will be presented with a report on the work carried out so far before the preferred option is chosen by all councillors at next month’s full meeting of Aberdeenshire Council on 15th November.

The branch has been pressing the council through the working group, project board and elected members to think very carefully before going down any outsourcing route. We have pointed out that ALEOs in other Local Authorities in Scotland have led to cuts in services as well as in staff, and terms and conditions. Aberdeen City is currently seeing the closure of pools in the City by their ALEO, Sport Aberdeen.

The branch has worked to see CLD services removed from this proposal and welcomes the recommendation that CLD services be removed from the scope of this proposal. If the committee agrees, CLD will remain under the direct management of Aberdeenshire Council. We believe that the best way to protect and deliver public services is to keep them in-house.

Cuts impact “devastating” says UNISON - speaking up for services and the people who deliver them

Aberdeenshire UNISON has warned that the council’s planned cuts over the next five years will hit jobs and services hard and will continue to have a devastating impact on the quality of life in Aberdeenshire, especially for our most vulnerable.

The branch has called on Aberdeenshire councillors to minimise job losses and to keep their commitment to no compulsory redundancies and to maintain services to the most vulnerable.

Branch Secretary Inez Teece said, “We recognise that the council is in a difficult position, especially with the continued council tax freeze and we would urge the Scottish Government to reconsider this as we have shown that it only benefits the better off.

Aberdeenshire UNISON calls on council to rethink privatisation of Design and Print Services

Aberdeenshire UNISON has called on elected members to reconsider their plan to privatise the Print and Design service alongside the renewal of the printing and photocopying contract.

In a briefing to all councillors, the branch has commended Aberdeenshire Council for having not gone down the route of many others by outsourcing/privatising its services and urged it not to sell off their Print and Design Service for short-term gain.

A paper compiled by Morag Lawrence, steward, detailing the benefits of insourcing was also sent to councillors.

Inez Teece, Branch Secretary said, "We have launched a dialogue with the employers to continue over the coming months to campaign to keep services in house not only for print and design but for all council services.

"UNISON will not sit back and let our services and staff be sold off to the highest bidder when the people of Aberdeenshire will end up picking up the costs in financial terms and diminished services."