Fife Labour spokesperson Mark Hood - highlights the cost of Council Staff Sickness
Fife Labour has this week highlighted the levels of sickness absence within Fife Council and says the situation is one that must be tackled. Labour Finance Spokesperson Mark Hood accused the SNP Lib Dem coalition who runs Fife Council of ‘a lack of leadership’ in addressing such issues and pledged that Labour would make the issue a key priority ‘when back in power’ in the Kingdom.
Mr Hood issued figures he had obtained which showed that sick pay within Fife Council over 36 weeks for the period from April through to December 20011 had cost the authority over ten million pounds.
He said; “There is clearly a problem and while I am supportive of people being paid when they are unable to work through sickness, the issue here is the level of sickness, and what that is costing, which is taking money and staff away from front-line services. I am now calling for more detailed analysis of the frequency and nature of the absences in order that we can understand what is going on and what needs to be done”.
Mr Hood also explained that the true cost of sickness is much higher as the figures he has obtained relate solely to the wages of those staff who are off sick. However the cost of replacement staff to continue with services and the loss of productivity would he said cost the Council further millions of pounds and it is this area which he is identifying for budget for staff savings.
“I recognise that there will be employees who are on sick leave and need the support of their employer. A good employer does not turn its back on its most valuable asset – its staff -when they are in need and are unable to work through ill health. But the figures that I am releasing today show that there is a much deeper problem at Fife Council, one which the political leadership must understand better and get a grip on.
The Labour finance chief said that in some services, where staff numbers had been reduced through enhanced redundancy packages, this puts staff are under immense pressure. He highlighted the cost of sickness in social work which was over £2.8 million for the 9 month period and said; “We need to know if levels of work pressure is leading to sickness in some of these very stressful jobs and we need to be prepared to take action where necessary to support staff. We must however do what we can to reduce the levels of sickness as the costs are extreme and cannot be allowed to go unchallenged”.
He concluded; “The SNP Lib Dem coalition councillors in Fife are keen enough to take their money, but again and again we see they don’t take responsibility for the big challenges that go with the territory of running a council. Instead they prefer to hide behind officers, cut vital services and hike up charges for the general public. I am clear that Labour in Fife will stop cutting core services and instead cut waste, cut bureaucracy, cut sickness levels and begin to rebuild the council into one that puts people first”.
Editors Note:
Information provided by Fife Council Finance Department to Fife Labour Group
Cost of sick pay 2011-12 Period 1 to 9 (w36)
Service Sick Pay
£000
Social Work 2,888
IT 153
Housing & Communities 1,229
Environment & Development 2,202
Education 3,025
FAPS 304
Corporate Services 169
Joint Initiatives 1
Fife Fire & Rescue 203
Emergency Planning 6
Assessor 25
Chief Exec 2
Community Safety Partnership 9
TOTAL 10,216
Note: This is the period from 1st April into early December
