UNISON raised a range of concerns in our submission to the 2012 consultation on what was then called the Community Empowerment and Renewal Bill. The latest consultation has not diminished those concerns. In particular, we are concerned that there is no mention of the workers for whom these “assets” are their workplaces far less what protections would be in place regarding their terms and conditions and future employment. There is no information on how the request to take over an asset will interact with procurement and competition regulations.
Requests under Westminster Localism Bill trigger tendering and there is nothing in the consultation indicating that this will be different in Scotland.
Public services as we know them evolved due to the failure of the community, voluntary and private sectors to meet the needs of the people. The infrastructure required both to support business and people to achieve their potential required co-ordination, local control and financial investment…
https://unison-scotland.org/wp-content/uploads/CommunityEmpowermentBill_UNISONResponse_Jan2014.pdf