Only badly run councils will benefit from resource sharing

Published on Friday 20 November 2009 10:14

I WISH to comment on the article "City plans to slash costs by sharing staff and equipment" (News 18 November)

I am not sure if councils sharing staff and equipment would be a good thing or a bad thing? As a taxpayer in Fife I certainly don't like the idea of our staff and equipment being used outwith our boundary.

Let's say for example another council wants access to the Fife gritting fleet. Are the roads in Fife going to be treated first as a priority or are they going to be neglected because half the fleet is in another council area?

Staff sharing could be more costly than anticipated. If you work for roads in Fife but your boss tells you that you are actually needed in the Borders is Fife Council then going to pay these men to travel to the Borders and then find them accommodation whilst they are there?

In most cases I don't really see staff sharing working but what might be a good idea is if a member of staff lives in Fife but works for Edinburgh City Council or vice versa but can't get to their work because of snow or high winds, that some arrangement was in place whereby they could report to a place of work within the neighbouring authority (ie an Edinburgh teacher who lives in Fife would report to his/her nearest school in Fife). This would mean the member of staff would not lose pay or be forced to take holidays.

I think in conclusion it is generally a bad idea for councils to be sharing resources apart from in exceptional emergency circumstances and the only reason I can think of for this suggestion is some councils have been badly managed and probably want to tap resources from those that have been well managed.

Alastair Macintyre, Webster Place, Rosyth

Dementia care must improve

IT WOULD appear that some of our hospitals and care homes are not giving those with senile dementia the type of care that they and their relatives would expect (News, 18 November).

It sounds as if it is coming to a crisis point in some areas.

Some of this has been put down to low wages, poor training and low moral, in other cases high staff turnover is being blamed.

The NHS has not been starved of money over the last few years and it is now the fourth largest employer in the world, so is the money being used properly, or is it down to bad management?

None of us know what the future may hold for us, but if any of us were to fall ill, we would expect the best possible care that there is and it would seem that those who are at their most vulnerable are not getting the best possible care that there is.

Is it not time for our government to start investigating what is going wrong when so many people are unhappy at the service they are getting? Nothing will change if that is not done, and do those who are at the most vulnerable points in their lives not deserve better treatment than they have been getting?

Andrew Murphy, Royal Mile, Edinburgh

Booze plan pours away Scots jobs

I AM becoming increasingly concerned over the potential job losses with the SNP proposal to increase alcohol prices. Firstly it would add to inflation, which would increase interest rates and hurt families and businesses.

Secondly, as we have seen in Ireland where shoppers are flooding out of the Republic into Northern Ireland for the cheaper prices of alcohol, the booze cruise to England would cost thousands of jobs in Scotland.

Thirdly and most importantly the announcement by Whyte & Mackay that it might not invest in its bottling plant in Grangemouth because of this tax rise would immediately cost job losses. Kenny MacAskill is wrong on this issue as he is on so many.

Michelle Smythe, Dalry Road, Edinburgh

Forth tunnel plan unfairly sunk

Why have another bridge over the Forth that has to be closed in high winds? Its nonsensical and a waste of money, surely a tunnel which would be open no matter what the weather is all year round is the more practical solution, but since when has practicality ever entered a politician's head? As we have seen with expenses scandal money is easy to spend when it's not your own.

P Forrest, Easter Road, Edinburgh