Malcolm defends the pension arrangements of workers for privatised services
Question on staff pensions under public-private partnerships
Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab):
5. To ask the Scottish Government whether the protocol agreed by the Scottish Executive and the STUC in December 2002 concerning employment issues in public-private partnerships is still in force. (S4O-00362)
The Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth (John Swinney):
“Public Private Partnerships in Scotland - Protocol and Guidance Concerning Employment Issues”, issued in November 2002, remains applicable.
Malcolm Chisholm:
I welcome that reply. The cabinet secretary will know that section 9.5 of the protocol says:
“The service provider will be required to offer new recruits to a PPP workforce access to the same pension arrangements as transferred employees.”
The cabinet secretary may not be aware that the City of Edinburgh Council’s proposed privatisation of a large number of council services does not conform with section 9.5. I hope that the proposal will, in any case, be rejected but, in the meantime, will he write to the council to remind it that the protocol - and that section in particular - is still in force?
John Swinney:
I am happy to confirm that the protocol is in place.
The local authority will have to have regard to the section 52 guidance, which is essentially statutory guidance to local authorities on contracting. The guidance is not binding on the local authority but the local authority must have regard to the contents of that provision.
At this stage I am unable to confirm to Malcolm Chisholm whether section 52 conveys any obligation in respect of the issue of pension entitlement that he has raised. I am happy to write to the member with clarity on that point. If there is further detail that he wishes to explore with the Government, I would be happy to meet him to discuss it.
Question asked on November 17th 2011