Scottish Water branded 'out of control' over near-£500m spend on private firms

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Scottish Water has been accused of pouring taxpayers’ cash down the drain after spending almost half a billion pounds on private contractors.

Unison said a £467.2million bill shows the firm’s spending is out of control because much of the work could have been done by their own staff sitting in the depot.The trade union has urged Scottish ministers to get a grip on the situation and stop desperately needed public funds being wasted.Unison regional organiser Emma Phillips said: “The cost of unblocking a drain is around £100 to Scottish Water, yet private contractors are paid around £300 when they’re called out to do this. “We’ve experienced situations where, because they’ve been guaranteed a certain level of work, Scottish Water staff are in the depot with contractors doing the work.”She added: “They are out of control and there is a complete lack of government oversight of Scottish Water.

They need to step up. This is an organisation owned by the people of Scotland that should be doing what’s good for Scotland and not what’s good for lining their pockets.“They’re tied into long-term deals, paying contractors more and more each year, while their own staff are not getting those kinds of raises.

I would ­happily see these raises for their own staff but instead they’re ­striking because they’re not being paid what they are worth.”Scottish Water has been previously accused of splashing out on huge salaries and bonuses for executives while staff went on strike in November over pay.Since 2021, three senior Scottish Water bosses have been paid about ­£3million in total, including £1.1million in bonuses.