Nicola Sturgeon's official residence in Edinburgh has dodged the current bin strikes after it emerged rubbish is being collected by a private firm.
Waste workers across the capital have been on strike since August 18 over a pay dispute which has left bins and recycling facilities overflowing causing a public health warning from experts.
Mitie, a waste removal firm, was employed last year by the Scottish Government to remove rubbish from over 70 authority buildings across the country. The £43 million contract includes Bute House in the New Town area of Edinburgh.
Bin workers in 20 council areas across Scotland are currently take industrial action over a pay dispute between unions and Cosla.
The Daily Record exclusively revealed on Sunday that council chiefs had agreed to offer a minimum rise of £1,925 in a bid to end the strike.
Refuse workers in Edinburgh are set to return to work on Tuesday, however residents in 19 other council areas will have to wait until August 31.
Miles Briggs, Scottish Tory shadow secretary for local government, hit out at the government over the situation.
He said: "Taxpayers who stump up for her bin collection to the tune of millions of pounds also pay for a proper council service, which they are being denied thanks to her government’s cuts and dithering.
"It's small wonder Nicola Sturgeon seems unflustered by the rubbish piling up around Edinburgh, while she's off in Copenhagen. She urgently needs to clear this mess up."
In response a government spokesperson said Bute House "functions as an office for officials and the cabinet" and therefore it was "appropriate" for rubbish to be collected.
Talks were set to get underway this morning with the £1,925 offer expected to be put to union officials. Waste and recycling staff took strike action due to a failure to agree a deal on pay, with offers of 3.5 per cent and 5 per cent rejected.
When will strikes take place and which unions are taking industrial action?
Unite
Unite members from Aberdeen City, Angus, Dundee, East Ayrshire, East Lothian, East Renfrewshire, Falkirk, Glasgow, Highland, Inverclyde, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, West Lothian councils will all go on strike from August 24 to 31.
All 13 will join their colleagues in Aberdeenshire, Dumfries and Galloway, East Dunbartonshire, Edinburgh Fife and North Ayrshire from September 8 to 13.
Unison
Unison members from Aberdeenshire, Clackmannanshire, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Lanarkshire, Stirling and South Lanarkshire will walk out on August 26 to 29 then from September 7 to 10.
GMB
GMB members from Aberdeen, Angus, Dundee, East Ayrshire, East Lothian, Falkirk, Glasgow, Inverclyde, Highland, Midlothian, Orkney, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, West Lothian, Perth and Kinross, and North Lanarkshire will hit the picket line from August 26 to 29 then again from September 7 to 10.
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