Bumpy roads across Scotland tell the real story of maintenance spending cut by a fifth

17 May 2013

 

UNISON Scotland response to Accounts Commission report on audit update on roads maintenance:

 

UNISON said today that the key point to emerge from the report is the scale of the cut in expenditure on roads maintenance – down by 21 per cent.*

 

Dave Watson, UNISON’s head of Bargaining and Campaigns, said that the public will be scathing about the report concluding that road conditions have remained largely the same in the last two years. Indeed, it concedes that the proportion of acceptable roads is lower than in 2005.

The public services union, which represents staff involved in planning, road maintenance and land services, also warned that some councils are planning for up to 50 years use on road surfaces designed originally to last 15 years.

 

Dave said: “The fact is, if you cut spending by one fifth, the only way you can maintain the illusion of maintaining standards is by patch and mend.

“Potholes are being patched rather than surfaces being replaced. Any cyclist, let alone motorist can feel the difference.”

He highlighted the following points in the report:

 

·         council payments to compensate drivers for pothole damage have risen, from around £340,000 in 2007/08 to £1.2 million in 2011/12

·         Forty-five per cent of local roads users in Scotland consider roads condition to be poor, very poor or terrible, the worst rate in the UK.

 

·         Scotland is perceived to have more potholes per mile than any other region in the UK, and more worn or faded roads markings.

·         Drivers in Scotland are more likely to report pothole damage, with 44 per cent saying their cars had been damaged at some point over the last two years. 

 

 

Dave added: “Any new formats for roads asset management plans, or calls for more or different data on the roads - or indeed if any proposals emerge for structural change – is just tinkering around the edges. It is the scale of the cutbacks which is the issue and people can see and feel the bumpy roads on a daily basis.”

Chris Stephens, UNISON’s Land and Environmental Services convenor, said: “Road surfaces are designed to last 15 years. However, in many councils this is being stretched to 50 years.

 

“If local roads were funded to the level of trunk roads we would of course see significant improvement.”

 

ENDS

 

*

“The percentage of local roads in acceptable condition has increased marginally from 66.1 to 66.7 per cent over the last two years, despite a reduction in roads maintenance spending from £492 million in 2009/10 to around £400 million in 2010/11 (a 21 per cent reduction in real terms).”

 

Notes to editors:

1. UNISON is Scotland’s largest trade union representing 160,000 members working in the public sector in Scotland, including staff at all 32 local authorities.

 

The Accounts Commission report is online at www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/media/article.php?id=234

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Job cuts threaten services and make workers sick in Western Isles

Tue 18 Dec 2012

UNISON’s Western Isles local government branch has issued a counter-warning over jobs and service cuts following an Audit Scotland alert that staff sickness rates were becoming an area of ‘concern’.

Branch chair Flora Somerville said:

“The Audit Scotland report noted that ‘the Comhairle (Council) is not clear what the underlying cause is for the increase in sickness absence’.”

“I think we can tell them. The cuts we have faced – including the loss of 200 jobs - have had a damaging effect on the wellbeing of the workforce.”

 “The low morale in the workforce, the constant pressure of excessive workloads and the uncertainty around the future of their own jobs is having a significant impact on sickness levels.” 

The job cuts so far represent more than 10% of the Comhairle’s workforce and there are proposals currently on the table which include yet more job losses. 

Flora Somerville warned that further job losses would have an impact on services as well as the health of council workers:

“The reduction in the workforce so far has been achieved without cuts in service delivery - but at a very high cost to employees who are doing the work of colleagues who have left. Any further job cuts are bound to impact on the services we deliver to the most vulnerable in our communities.”

UNISON Scottish Secretary Mike Kirby said:

"Councils are being placed in this position as a result of decisions of the Westminster and Scottish Governments. These cuts across the UK are not about austerity measures to meet an economic problem, but about politics - a politics that hates public services and loves to profit from privatisation.

"If the Western Isles Council, or any other council, moves to any form of compulsory redundancies, UNISON will consult on industrial action."

ENDS

For further information please contact:Flora Somerville, UNISON Western Isles branch chair, on 07767034786

Malcolm Burns, Communications Officer, UNISON Scotland, 0141 342 2877 or 078765 66978

Fiona Montgomery, Communications Officer, UNISON Scotland, 0141 342 2877 or 07508 876 995

Notes for editors

1. UNISON is Scotland’s largest trade union representing over 160,000 members working mainly in the public sector in Scotland and represents staff in all of Scotland’s local authorities.

2. The Audit Scotland press release and report on Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles Council) December 2012 are available online here:

http://www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/media/article.php?id=222

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Audit Scotland report ‘Health Inequalities in Scotland’ - UNISON comment

Thu 13 Dec 2012

Public services union UNISON today (Thursday 13 Dec) welcomed Audit Scotland’s focus on health inequalities and the need for more preventative services but warned that action must include addressing wider issues such as in-work poverty.

Dave Watson, Head of Bargaining and Campaigns, said: “We are pleased that Audit Scotland has identified the importance of more preventative services and healthcare focused in areas of high deprivation.

“But, of course, rising living costs and falling incomes are having a huge impact on families just now, with large numbers of people in work struggling financially. They need a living wage. Poverty is a major factor in the deep-seated health inequalities in Scotland.

“However much we want Community Planning Partnerships to ensure health boards, councils and others work together on this, that can only go so far in making a difference if we don’t also address some of the root causes by building a more equal society. At present, the policies of ‘austerity’ are doing the opposite.”


ENDS


Notes for editors
1.    UNISON was responding to the publication of the Audit Scotland report “Health Inequalities in Scotland.” www.audit-scotland.gov.uk

2.    UNISON’s “A Fairer Scotland” report lists addressing health inequalities as a key priority, but says all the evidence shows these are linked to other inequalities. “Creating a healthier Scotland is not simply a matter of a strong NHS, vital though that is.” The report is online at
www.unison-scotland.org.uk/scotlandsfuture/FairerScotlandNov2012.pdf

3.    These issues are also addressed in more detail in our 2008 briefing on the 60th anniversary of the NHS. www.unison-scotland.org.uk/briefings/PI184NHS60th.pdf


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Scottish government must now create balanced police service - UNISON

Tuesday 20 Nov 2012

UNISON Scotland today called on the Scottish government to look again at police staffing, as a new report by the Accounts Commission reveals that frontline police officers are backfilling the jobs of police staff – up to 3,000 of whom face redundancy.

The Accounts Commission report ‘Best Value in police authorities and police forces in Scotland’ published today, Tuesday 20 November, confirms “police staff posts are being covered by police officers", but warns "there is a risk that this is not an efficient and sustainable use of resources if adopted longer term.”

George McIrvine, chair of UNISON’s Police Committee said:

“We have been warning that up to 3,000 vital police staff jobs are under threat in the new  police service – yet police officers are being taken off the street to cover for the thousand police support staff jobs which have been lost in the last year or so.

“It is not satisfying to say ‘we told you so’ over such a crisis, but we did and we were right. Now we need the Scottish government to take action and commit to a balanced police service rather than an arbitrary target for police officer numbers.”

Dave Watson, UNISON Scotland’s Head of Bargaining and Campaigns said:

"This report confirms not only that police officers are backfilling police staff jobs at greater cost, but expensive police overtime is increasing to plug the gaps. It also supports UNISON's call for strategic workforce planning to avoid this appalling waste of scarce resources.

“The problem is the Scottish Government’s arbitrary target to maintain police officer numbers at 17,234. This combined with their failure to fund a balanced police service means that massive cuts will fall on police support staff - whose skills and qualifications are vital to effective policing across Scotland.

“We need a balanced workforce where the skills of police staffs enable police officers to do the job the public wants them to do, where they want them to do it. That is fighting crime, out on the streets. Using officers as expensive replacements for police staff might meet the Scottish Government’s political target - but not the needs of Scotland’s communities.”

ENDS

For further information please contact:George McIrvine, chair of UNISON’s Police Committee, on 07842 542677Dave Watson, Head of Bargaining and Campaigns, UNISON Scotland, on 07958 122 409
Malcolm Burns, Communications Officer, UNISON Scotland, 0141 342 2877 or 078765 66978

Notes for editors

1. As the Scottish Government has an arbitrary target to maintain police officer numbers at 17234, the focus of the savings are concentrated on police staffs. This has resulted in over 1000 police staff posts being lost already. As a consequence, police officers are taking on the work of police staffs.

2. Extracts from Accounts Commission report ‘Best Value in police authorities and police forces in Scotland’ published today, Tuesday 20 November – section on Police Staff – key parts in bold

108. Police forces have always employed a large number of police staff in addition to their police officers. The number of police staff in Scotland reached a peak in 2006/07 at 8,171. Underpinning this growth was a desire to make more efficient and effective use of resources across the police workforce. While greater operating efficiency had been a significant strategic driver for this, it is also the case that many police functions can be more effectively delivered by qualified police staff than by police officers. These include core organisational and management functions such as administration, HR, procurement, communications and marketing, information technology and forensics. Roles traditionally performed by uniformed police officers but which do not require a police officer’s power of arrest have also been increasingly ‘civilianised’ over the last decade. This includes custody and detention, forensic sciences, call handling and some crime investigation

109. Since 2008/09, police staff numbers have decreased across all forces. In 2011/12, a total of 5,718 (FTE) police staff were employed by the eight Scottish police forces, a 6.8 per cent decrease in the last year. Over the last three years the number of FTE police staff has decreased by 12 per cent. Reductions in police staff can be directly attributed to forces’ need to reduce operating costs and the range of early retirement/voluntary redundancy options that have been available to avoid compulsory redundancies.

110. The reduction in police staff numbers in 2011/12 has been accompanied by an increase in police staff overtime expenditure across Scotland. Between 2007/08 and 2010/11, the proportion of police staff overtime expenditure, as a proportion of the overall police staff salary budget, fell year-on-year from 3.0 to 1.4 per cent. However, during the last financial year overtime rose slightly to 1.7 per cent of the police staff payroll, with all but Fife Constabulary and Lothian and Borders Police experiencing growing overtime expenditure during 2011/12. Decisions to cut police staff numbers to reduce costs must take into account any indirect additional costs when calculating the likely savings which can be realised.

112. Police staff numbers will continue to be put under pressure as forces face real-term budget cuts while trying to maintain police officer numbers at or above the Scottish Government’s minimum of 17,234. It is important that the Police Service of Scotland undertakes strategic workforce planning to ensure that it makes best use of its people resources in a sustainable way, with functions carried out by people with the right skills, knowledge and experience. There are some indications that police staff posts are being covered by police officers in the short term, but at a time of continued financial pressures there is a risk that this is not an efficient and sustainable use of resources if adopted longer term.

See Accounts Commission report online here: http://www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/media/article.php?id=219

3. Other documents giving analysis of the police reform process and UNISON’s campaign for a balanced, modern police force – rather than cutting thousands of police staff jobs – are available on our website. For more information see UNISON’s police pages http://www.unison-scotland.org.uk/police/index.html

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