Service Cuts Worry Half Of Scots

Half of Scots are concerned about cuts to their local services, a new report has found.

Libraries, road repairs and street cleaning are the areas of greatest concern when it comes to the impact of future cuts, the PwC report on the state of local authorities said.

It carried out an online survey of 2,000 people across the UK from January 30 to February 2, including 170 people in Scotland.

While 50% of Scots appear to be worried about service reductions and cuts, the survey suggests they are less concerned than many of their UK counterparts.

Concern over future cuts is highest in London, at 69%, ahead of Wales at 58% and a UK-wide average of 54%.

The survey also reveals that while they may be worried about the impact, people are now a little more accepting of the fact that councils may need to make hard choices: 36% accept there may be a real need to reduce or close services in their area, up from 32% the previous year.

Paul Brewer, head of government and public sector, PwC in Scotland, said: Scottish councils are now facing challenges on all fronts: financial pressures continue while demand and public expectations grow with the way ahead being challenging, but full of opportunity that the sector has the confidence to tackle and face.

Chief executives and leaders have recognised the need to do things differently, looking beyond their organisational boundaries, bringing the synergies of integrated health and social care, investing as city regions to bring the benefits of economic growth and strengthening service reform and customer delivery with digital solutions.''

The report also found that there continues to be a wide gap between council expectations and view of an increasingly digital public''.

While 66% of leaders agree their council is confidently embracing the opportunities new technology offers'', only 20% of Scots agree - the lowest response rate across the UK regions.

Colin Slater, digital partner at PwC in Scotland, said: Speaking with public sector organisations, it's clear that there is a desire to make better use of digital technologies to improve customer service and operational effectiveness.

However, the risks must also be managed. With a 69% rise in security incidents in the past year and the number of information commission enforcements rising to 69 in 2014, it is vital that they fully understand how critical it is to have cyber security policies and procedures embedded into their overall strategy, and the impact cyber breaches can have not only on their business performance but their reputation.''