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Times
32 minutes ago
- Times
Scottish council staff off sick at record rate
The level of absence among council staff is at its highest level on record as local authorities are urged to improve their workforce planning. Figures released by the Accounts Commission on Thursday showed the absence rate among non-teacher staff rose to an average of 13.9 days in 2023-24 compared with 10.8 in 2010-11. During the same time, the teacher absence rate increased from 6.6 days to 7.6 days. • We are in a new era of health in the workplace — things must change In a report the commission urged councils to plan their workforce into the future, especially given the age of staff. While 35 per cent of staff — the highest level — are between 25 and 44, a total of 27 per cent of workers are between 45 and 54. There are 29 per cent of workers aged 55 to 64. The commission said: 'Addressing rising sickness absence, embracing innovation and digital technology, and increased collaborative working will all be necessary to attract and retain staff and ensure we all continue to benefit from a skilled and motivated local government workforce.' Local authorities should align their workforce plans with their own priorities, the report said. The commission added that councils were dealing with 'clear and continuing financial pressures' and had to 'transform how they deliver services' to cut costs. 'Auditors report that councils have responded positively to these challenges but that further progress with workforce planning is still needed in light of continuing financial and demand pressures,' the report said. • Scots out of work for sickness and disability at highest level for 20 years Jennifer Henderson, a member of the Accounts Commission, said: 'We all benefit from a skilled and motivated local government workforce; staff are the most important resource that councils have. 'Councils must fundamentally reform how they deliver services, and Scotland's 260,000 council workers are crucial to this. 'Councils need to align their existing workforce plans with their priorities so they can ensure their workforces are the right size and shape, and their staff have the skills they will need. In particular, they need to ensure workers have the digital skills necessary for the scale of changes ahead. 'We have seen many councils already responding to this challenge, and there are valuable opportunities for local bodies to learn from each other.'
The Independent
43 minutes ago
- The Independent
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch says Josef Fritzl case made her ‘reject God'
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has revealed the case of Austrian sex offender Josef Fritzl caused her to lose faith in God. Mrs Badenoch said she was 'never that religious' while growing up but 'believed there was a God' and 'would have defined myself as a Christian apologist'. But this changed in 2008 when she read reports that Fritzl had imprisoned and repeatedly raped his daughter, Elisabeth, in his basement over 24 years. Mrs Badenoch, whose maternal grandfather was a Methodist minister, told the BBC: 'I couldn't stop reading this story. And I read her account, how she prayed every day to be rescued. 'And I thought, I was praying for all sorts of stupid things and I was getting my prayers answered. I was praying to have good grades, my hair should grow longer, and I would pray for the bus to come on time so I wouldn't miss something. 'It's like, why were those prayers answered and not this woman's prayers? And it just, it was like someone blew out a candle.' But she insisted that while she had 'rejected God', she had not rejected Christianity and remained a 'cultural Christian', saying she wanted to 'protect certain things because I think the world that we have in the UK is very much built on many Christian values'. During her interview, which is due to be broadcast on Thursday evening, Mrs Badenoch also said her tenure as Conservative leader was going 'well', adding her job was to 'make sure that people can see that we are the only party on the centre-right'. In an apparent dig at Nigel Farage's Reform UK, she said: 'There are pretenders. We're the only party on the centre-right, and we're the only ones who still believe in values like living within our means, personal responsibility, making sure that the government is not getting involved in everything so it can focus on the things it needs to look at, like securing our borders.' She went on to defend previous comments saying the fact she had worked at McDonald's made her working class, saying: 'I had to work to live. 'That, for me, is what being working class is. It's the lifestyle that you have. You have to work, to survive.' And she argued that parents who were 'worried about their children getting stolen or snatched' had created a younger generation that lacked the 'resilience' to deal with problems in life. Responding to figures suggesting a quarter of people aged 16-24 said they had a mental disorder, Mrs Badenoch said: 'I think they think they have a mental disorder, I don't think they all have a mental disorder.' She added: 'I'm not a medical expert so it is not my expertise on exactly what we need to do to get them into work, but we should be trying to get them into work.'
Daily Mail
44 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Kemi Badenoch says the horrific case of evil incest monster Josef Fritzl made her lose her faith in God
Kemi Badenoch lost her faith in God over the horrific case of Austrian sex offender Josef Fritzl, the Tory leader has revealed. In an interview with the BBC, Mrs Badenoch said she was 'never that religious' while growing up but 'believed in God' and would define herself as a 'Christian apologist'. But this changed in 2008 when she read reports that Fritzl had imprisoned and repeatedly raped his daughter, Elisabeth, in his basement for 24 years. Mrs Badenoch, whose grandfather was a Methodist minister, told Amol Rajan: 'I couldn't stop reading this story. I read how she prayed every day to be rescued. 'And I thought, I was praying for all sorts of stupid things and was getting my prayers answered. I was praying for good grades and for the bus to come on time. 'Why were my prayers answered and not this woman's? It was like someone blew out a candle.' But she insisted that while she had 'rejected God', she had not rejected the religion and remained a 'cultural Christian', adding that she wanted to 'protect certain Christian values'. During her interview, due to be broadcast tonight, Mrs Badenoch said her tenure as leader was going 'well'. In an apparent dig at Nigel Farage's Reform UK, she said: 'There are pretenders. 'We're the only party on the centre-Right, and the only ones who still believe in values like making sure the Government is not getting involved in everything so it can focus on things like securing our borders.' She went on to argue that parents 'worried about their children getting snatched' had created a generation that lacked the 'resilience' to face life's problems. Mrs Badenoch then responded to figures suggesting a quarter of people aged 16-24 said they had a mental disorder, saying: 'I think they think they have a mental disorder, I don't think they all have a mental disorder.'
