Environmental health

Cuts to local council environmental health departments are putting public health at risk in Scotland, the public services union UNISON says.

Local authority responses to Freedom of Information requests from UNISON Scotland have revealed that the number of qualified environmental health officers employed by 30 out of Scotland’s 32 councils, has fallen by 13% from 519 in 2008-09 to 450 in 2011-12.

There has also been a 17% fall from 507 to 423 in the same period in other staff carrying out an enforcement role in environmental health departments.

Meanwhile, UNISON has revealed that the number of meat inspectors has more than halved in Scotland since 2003, down from 170 to 75 — a shocking statistic in the light of the current horsemeat scandal.