'Completely unacceptable': Renfrewshire councillor blasts staff abuse figures

Renfrewshire Council staff should not turn up to work worried they could be on the receiving end of verbal or physical abuse, an elected member has said.

Councillor Chris Gilmour condemned the "completely unacceptable behaviour" after 13 incidents of 'violence and aggression' were recorded by finance and resources last year. The category held the highest number of reports in the department's annual incident statistics 2023/24 – followed by six for 'slip, trip or fall at same level' – and is recognised as the "biggest risk" within the service.

That's according to an annual health and safety report for the service, which was discussed at a meeting of the finance, resources and customer services policy board. Councillor Gilmour, Labour representative for Johnstone North and the surrounding villages, told the Paisley Daily Express no employee should feel anxious about what they might face while doing their job.

Speaking after the board meeting, he said: "My point of view is that you should leave your work the way you come in. You should be safe when you get to work and you shouldn't be in fear or trepidation of being verbally abused or injured at your place of work. It is completely unacceptable behaviour.

"When you go to work, you should be able to get on with your job and go home the way you came in – healthy. That's my view on it."

Health and safety groups recognise violence and aggression as the "biggest risk" within finance resources, according to the report, and procedures have been put in place to address future incidents. The paper also said the situation was being monitored "closely" with employees receiving support for "further mitigation opportunities."

Councillor Gilmour raised the issue at last week's board meeting and asked why the number for violence and aggression "sticks out". Health and safety officer Steven Fanning said it was the "biggest presenting issue" across the whole of the council and has been on the rise since emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said it appeared people seemed to have "lost their manners" when dealing with staff within finance and resources and across other parts of the organisation. Mr Fanning added: "There's been a lot more people facing and challenging with our frontline services, so people just come up and invent whatever they want.

"If you're wearing a council badge, unfortunately they just seem that they're able to think they can direct their feelings towards you and some of the staff, and we've always got the right there to support the staff, if anyone feels that they've been abused in any way.

"What I will say is a lot of this has been verbal abuse within finance and resources, although across the council there's other areas where we do have some physical abuse in here. But within finance and resources, most of it is verbal aggression that we're seeing."

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