Senior Edinburgh politicians reject report on council furlough use

The move follows the council’s announcement last month that 500 of its staff members will be placed on furlough.

The decision to furlough staff was made by the local authority’s Chief Executive, Andrew Kerr, in consultation with the Leader and Depute Leader of the council and alongside trade unions.

Staff were furloughed on the final date that businesses and organisations could have applied to the CJRS.

At a full council meeting on Tuesday, Conservative Cllr Andrew Johnston issued an addendum to a report on revenue budgets, requesting that council officers produce a further report outlining the range of council employees who have been furloughed and details around furlough timing.

Cllr Johnston’s addendum also requested that officers report on whether any council employees have been ‘flexibly’ furloughed since the beginning of this month and if so, how many.

The council’s Labour and SNP coalition administration chose not to accept the Conservative addendum.

Liberal Democrat councillors voted in favour of a separate amendment which incorporated the Conservative request for a report on furloughed staff into it.

Meanwhile, in order to ensure their own separate addendum would pass, Green councillors were required to vote with the coalition for a motion that excluded the Conservative furlough report request.

Cllr Johnston says that the council administration is not being transparent about how they have used the furlough scheme.

Commenting their decision not to vote for his addendum, he said: “The UK Government furlough scheme has provided vital support for employers affected by the Coronavirus.

“The council furloughed staff at the last possible moment and all this report sought to do was understand how this decision was reached and what the plans are for staff going forward – for example we don’t know if any staff are now ‘flexibly’ furloughed.

“The past few years tell us that the SNP-Labour ruling administration are uncomfortable with transparency, but the decision to block this report is baffling.”

Council Leader Adam McVey believes that the Conservative group of councillors are just stirring trouble and do not know what they are talking about when it comes to the issue of furlough.

Cllr McVey said: “Had the Tories bothered to read the briefing that was sent out on this they might be a bit more informed but, as usual, they haven’t the foggiest idea of what they’re talking about.

“This led to them being all over the place – asking the council not to use the furlough scheme and pay back the financial support we’ve secured, while at the same meeting asking the council to explore using furlough for more even more employees.

“We’ll stick to our approach of working with trade unions and supporting our dedicated workers through these challenges and where possible find ways of helping the council’s financial situation.”

A council spokesperson said: “Furloughing criteria were accurately applied to a small number of council teams that are primarily funded through income generation.

“In-line with the provisions of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the continuation of furloughing for these colleagues is reviewed regularly, aligned to the council’s resumption of more of our services in a planned way.”

A message from the Editor:Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.The dramatic events of 2020 are having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive. We are now more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription to support our journalism.Subscribe to the Edinburgh Evening News online and enjoy unlimited access to trusted, fact-checked news and sport from Edinburgh and the Lothians. Visit https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/subscriptions now to sign up.By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.Joy YatesEditorial Director