Council-owned Marketing Edinburgh refuses to put departing staff on furlough

MSP brands decision ‘miserly’

Alex Cole-Hamilton says the board's decision is "astonishing"

COUNCIL-OWNED Marketing Edinburgh has been branded “miserly” for refusing a plea from staff facing redundancy to put them on furlough instead.

The arms-length company responsible for promoting the Capital as a tourism and conference destination is being “hibernated” after its council funding was cut and all 16 employees face losing their jobs.

But a request to delay the redundancies and put the staff on furlough under the Government’s Job Retention Scheme - which allows workers to receive 80 per cent of their wages - has been rejected.

Edinburgh Western Lib Dem MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton said it was “astonishing” the board of Marketing Edinburgh would not agree to the move.

“The Treasury are effectively offering free money to tide people over during this crisis. There may not be jobs for them to go back to but I think the moral imperative is there for the board at least to allow the staff to take advantage of the package that’s on offer.”

He said the only cost to the council would be some accrued annual leave and pension contributions during the period.

“It does seem miserly to seek to make minuscule savings here when the suffering that could be caused to the staff would be much worse.”

Mr Cole-Hamilton argued there was no prospect of people finding new jobs during the lockdown and said he knew of several firms which had sacked staff but taken them back on so they could be put on furlough but on the understanding there would be no job when it ended.

The previous Marketing Edinburgh board quit en masse in November after the council turned down a funding plea.

The new board drew up a new plan but it depended on income from the sector and the Covid-19 crisis led them to conclude it was no longer viable.

Councillor Kate Campbell, chair of the Marketing Edinburgh board, said: “We looked carefully at furlough but there are ongoing liabilities which we don’t believe the company could have sustained, alongside the uncertainty of how long it will last.

“Boards have a duty to make sure a company is solvent, and if we failed in this duty we would have put staff’s contractual redundancy payments at risk, alongside other contractual obligations.

“The staff at Marketing Edinburgh have worked with the board throughout this process and we grateful for their professionalism and dedication.”