SCOTTISH councils have hit private finance companies with fines for poor service of just £11.3m in 12 years – despite still owing billions.
Local authorities have been accused of letting off the hook private firms whose buildings and services fail to come up to the agreed standard.
Some Scottish councils have not imposed a single fine on the companies behind private finance initiatives.
However, it was reported in 2016 that eight of Scotland’s biggest council’s still owe a staggering £4.8bn to private companies.
And in hundreds of cases, where fines are imposed they are for tiny amounts – including one case of a 26p charge for replacement door hinges.
The shocking figures were revealed in a Freedom of Information Act request sent to all Scottish Councils asking them to give details of fines going back 12 years.
There is growing concern about the issue of private involvement in public services following the collapse of Carillion, putting thousands of Scottish jobs at risk.
And Labour, under Jeremy Corbyn, have suggested private public partnership (PPP) deals could be taken back under public ownership. Public bodies have been left with crippling debts as a result of borrowing to build schools, hospitals and other facilities.
The 28 Scottish local councils who responded to the FoI revealed that private companies had only been fined £11,364,094.40 since 2005.
The biggest total fines were from Argyll and Bute council who levied £2,386,701.31, North Ayrshire Council who fined contractors £2,014,408.78 and Glasgow City Council who revealed £1,127,598.01 in fines.
However, both North Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire responded to the FOI stating that they had levied no fines against private contractors.
Despite having 24 schools under PPP, North Lanarkshire’s response read: “Having investigated, I can advise that there has been no material financial penalties since 2005.”
Of the 28 councils who responded to the FOI, 20 had fines of less than £1m, including Edinburgh Council, Dundee, Aberdeenshire and Dumfries and Galloway.
Stirling Council revealed they had only £3,644 in fines since 2006.
And many of the individual fines are for such small amounts it may cost more to administer them than is recovered.
From 2013, Aberdeenshire council fined private contractors 108 times for issues costing less than £10.
They included 26p for new door hinges, and £1.36 because a urinal needed to be cleaned.
And, in June 2013, East Lothian Council deducted £75 because in a Musselburgh School classroom there were “beasties in the cupboard.”
Scottish councils still owe billions to the private sector for new schools and the Scottish Secondary Teachers Association (SSTA) say the figures indicate many problems with them are never reported.
Seamus Searson, General Secretary of the SSTA, said: “Those figures don’t include all the other things that are going on, and are not being reported. Some schools won’t be bothered or have the time to argue with these companies about them.
“These fines are a drop in the ocean compared to what the companies holding onto the contracts will be making from them.
“Private companies have done really well out of these contracts, when everyone else has been suffering.”
Common Weal, a social and economic equality advocacy group, believe the figures are disturbing.
Ben Wray, Common Weal’s head of policy, said: “The finding that local authorities are losing hundreds of millions by failing to penalise PPP contractors for service failings is shocking and action must be taken immediately to rectify this.
“Local authorities are paying extortionate amounts in debt interest for PPP contracts, eating into budgets which could be hiring new teachers, tackling homelessness or funding any of the other austerity-hit services.
“Citizens across Scotland should write to their local councillor inquiring as to whether the local authority is penalising PPP contractors in full for service failures, and impressing on them the importance of doing so to raise vital funds for local services.”
Graham Simpson, Scottish Conservative MSP for South Lanarkshire, said: “It’s vital that councils claim back the money that they are rightly due so that taxpayers don’t end up losing out as a result of these issues.”
Argyll and Bute Council did not respond to a request for comment. North Ayrshire said they had “well-established and robust processes in place to ensure the contractors deliver the PPP contract in line with their obligations”.
