Fife Council's position on top of 'gardening leave' rankings sparks local spat
For the second year running, Fife Council has more staff suspended on full pay than any other Scottish local authority.
- By Leeza Clark
- Published in the Courier : 15.02.12
- Published online : 15.02.12 @ 04.47pm
As of last November, 13 employees — nearly half of them care workers — were on so-called gardening leave.
In Angus, five members of staff were suspended and in Dundee four. At the same time in Perth and Kinross, a total of 12 staff members were on gardening leave.
The Fife figure represents a significant drop when compared to the previous year, when 25 members of staff had been suspended.
The shocking statistics have prompted Fife Labour's finance spokesman Mark Hood to claim there is a lack of leadership at the council.
''The political leadership of Fife Council are sadly running around with blinkers on telling anyone that will listen just how good everything is, when actually we have big issues that need to be tackled,'' he told The Courier.
''Staff, and indeed the communities across Fife, deserve better.''
Mr Hood added that while he was unable to comment on any specific cases it was worrying that there was a ''trend of Fife Council being up there amongst the poorest performers time and time again''.
''I have already highlighted our poor sickness levels which place us in 29th out of 32 for the worst sickness levels in Scottish local government and I have made clear that there is a real lack of political leadership to get behind these issues and find out what is going on,'' he said.
But his comments provoked a furious backlash from depute leader, and HR spokeswoman, Elizabeth Riches, who accused Labour of clutching at straws with ''little idea of what they represent''.
Fife's poor record was revealed as a snapshot of Scotland's 32 local authorities showed that of last November there were at least 117 council workers — on monthly salaries which totalled £209,000 — waiting for their cases to be resolved.
It has been revealed that nearly half of the 13 suspensions involved Fife Council care staff and around a third are related to occupations covering roads and street cleansing.
''There are some occupational factors and risks associated with service delivery that have to be taken into account and which are not necessarily present in all councils,'' said Fife Council's HR services manager, Linda Frew.
Continued...
09.01am - 16.02.2012 Andy - Glenrothes, Scotland Report This
The issue should be how long it takes to resolve an investigation, not that someone is on full pay while suspended. How much would it cost in compesation if someone was cleared of an accusation and sued for lost earnings if the Council suspended them WITHOUT pay??? Innocent until proven guilty?
06.43pm - 18.02.2012 Political football - Cardenden, Fife Report This
Is the 'big issue' that policy is being followed and staff are suspended pending an investigation. Or is this just Cllr Hood's usual scattergun attack, based on nothing, while hoping to hit something. Perhaps he would prefer complaints against staff to be swept under the carpet?
08.48pm - 20.02.2012 Labour, no thanks - Cowdenbeath, Scotland Report This
Hood, Rowley and now Leishman just have not got a clue about how they would lead the Council. If they cannot handle opposition, apart from saying everything and everybody is rubbish, how could they ever be trusted to run a council. Their so called budget was an aggressive attack on council staff.
Add a comment