Almost a quarter of job vacancies at Scotland’s councils were not filled last year, according to new figures obtained by the Scottish Conservatives.
In 2022-23, more than 6,450 of the 27,619 full-time jobs advertised by local authorities went unfilled – meaning that 23.4% of posts were vacant.
Of these vacancies, 485 were for senior management positions.
The Scottish Conservatives obtained the data through Freedom of Information requests, with responses from 30 out of 32 councils.
Scottish Conservative shadow finance and local government secretary Liz Smith said: ‘At first glance it seems inexplicable that our councils are unable to find viable candidates to fill one in every four posts advertised.
‘But when these councils are being forced to do more with less by SNP ministers – leading to cuts in essential services and, increasingly, strikes – the public are doubtless concluding they’re no longer secure or attractive employers.
‘The blame for this lies with the SNP Government, for cutting council funding to the bone, while simultaneously increasing the areas in which the spending of that money is ring-fenced.’
In response, a spokesperson for Shona Robison, Scotland’s deputy First Minister and cabinet secretary for finance, said local government revenue funding was 2.6% higher in real terms than it was in 2013-14, ‘despite a decade of UK Government austerity measures’.
The spokesperson said workforce planning was a matter for individual local authorities, although the Scottish Government and local government had committed to working together on public sector workforce matters under the Verity House Agreement.
The spokesperson added: ‘We look forward to seeing the Scottish conservatives’ plans for increasing funding for local government while at the same time cutting taxes – and therefore the funding available for public services – as they have said they will do.
