Date: Thur 2 June 2005

Accounts Commission report on Inverclyde fails to commend good public service - UNISON

UNISON, the union for local government staff, today said - whilst they accepted some of the criticisms of Inverclyde Council - that the Accounts Commission (AC) Best Value Report on the council failed to give sufficient credit to the staff and management for the delivery of highly-rated public services.

Instead it was overwhelmingly negative whilst failing to recognise the steps already taken in the council to solve the problems.

Robin Taggart, UNISON Branch Service Conditions Officer said "The report gives an extremely negative impression of public services in Inverclyde. One that is not borne out by people's experience. In addition to the good services supplied by Social Work and Education and recognised by the report, the Housing and DLO services recently got a 80-90% satisfaction rating in a customer satisfaction survey, and home care and libraries have all been praised for their delivery in the teeth of underfunding. That is what most people in Inverclyde value about their council - not what corporate structure it has.

"Whilst there are problems that need to be addressed - not least those affecting staff - the current management are already addressing them without the need of expensive consultants. There seems to be no evidence for the AC claim that there is no capacity within the management to deliver the strategic leadership required."

UNISON also feels that, whilst the report summarises the severe structural and demographic problems of Inverclyde, it does not seem to take these into account when delivering its criticisms.

Bridget Hunter, UNISON Regional Officer for Inverclyde said: "The report identifies the deprivation and infrastructure problems in Inverclyde, but there appears to be no attempt to account for these when surveying the problems the council has. In particular there is little or no recognition that the level of these problems means that the council has been and remains seriously underfunded if they are to be able to address them successfully."

The union recognises that there are improvements that should be made, in particular the concerns raised with regard to staff.

Robin Taggart said "The instances of low morale, uncertainty, excessive use of responsibility payments, shilly-shallying about over staff pay rises and others are all issues that UNISON has raised in the past. It is clear that staff must be part of the solution, and UNISON and the other unions must be included in the recovery work."

ENDS For Further Information Please Contact:

Robin Taggart (UNISON Inverclyde) 01475 791754 (w) 0780 393 3047(m) Bridget Hunter (Regional Officer) 0845 355 0845(w) 07770 308063(m) Chris Bartter (Communications Officer) 0845 355 0845(w) 0771 558 3729(m)

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