Councillor seeks answers on 'understaffing' in Caithness and Sutherland roads teams
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A councillor is seeking an explanation about a shortage of staff in the local authority's roads teams in Caithness and Sutherland.
Matthew Reiss has been informed that the council is short of four employees in Caithness, while he understands Sutherland may have even more vacancies.
He believes the lack of manpower is a factor in the spread of "truly shocking potholes" across some parts.
Councillor Reiss, the independent member for Thurso and Northwest Caithness, is part of the campaign group calling for road safety improvements on the A836 at the Forss straight. Last week the group complained about a "total lack of progress" by Highland Council almost a year after a site visit highlighted some of the dangers.
"I have suspected for years that our roads department is understaffed, which would explain the near total silence in recent months on Forss straight," Councillor Reiss said.
"I was taken aback to discover we were apparently four staff short in the county, which means it is impossible for the hard-working roads men to cope with anything more than the basics – and not even that now, judging by the truly shocking potholes in some areas."
Councillor Reiss explained that on January 12 he emailed the authority's then chief executive, Donna Manson, about the staffing issues. "She replied very swiftly to the effect that vacancies had been authorised by the council's SNP-led administration to be advertised the previous day," he said.
"To be fair to the independent members of the administration, in previous years additional funds – about £20 million – were raised to try and address the problems.
"I am now asking just how long these posts have been left vacant. By chance I found out from two separate people that there are probably even more vacancies in Sutherland.
"If correct, this shows where the council's priorities really are – and it is not in the far north.
"In the summer I voiced my worries to the chief executive and a senior officer. It is utterly frustrating to find out that apparently these posts have been allowed to stay vacant, even though our own figures show Caithness has the most reported problems per mile of any area in Highland."
In October 2022, Councillor Reiss warned that Caithness was losing out after figures emerged showing the county had more road defects than Inverness, Lochaber and Nairn put together. A council report revealed that Caithness had a total of 4754 "outstanding work instructions" compared with 2043 for Inverness, 2173 for Lochaber and 137 for Nairn.
"The lack of staff seems to be responsible for the lack of progress on the Forss straight, although I do not understand why consultants were being suggested for such a simple scheme, involving a few signs, paintwork and the like," he went on.
"The public can see for themselves what is happening. The council must swallow any remaining scruples they have and ask the government for help before it is too late."
Kate Lackie took up the role of interim chief executive of Highland Council on February 1 after Mrs Manson left to join Devon County Council. Councillor Reiss has invited Ms Lackie to visit Caithness.
A Highland Council spokesperson said: "There are a number of staff vacancies across Caithness and Sutherland in the operational and technical teams. The recruitment process is being followed.
"The majority of the vacancies in Caithness are recent and will be advertised once the correct process has been followed. Recruitment has been difficult in other areas and some vacancies will be re-advertised, again once the correct process has been followed."
Councillors are being asked today to approve the prioritised area roads capital programme for Caithness, with a total of £594,452 available. A report before the Caithness committee lists 178 repairs that are prioritised for the county – although there is money for just 13 of the most urgent.
Councillor Reiss supplied photos taken on Friday at Riverside Road in Thurso, which is number one on the list of repairs. "They show a speed hump with a vicious hole next to it – traffic-calming retaken to an extreme," he said.
