by EWAN LAMB
The latest set of statistics from Scotland's Local Government Benchworking Framework (LGBF) shows expenditure on the Borders roads network is less than half the Scottish average even though almost 40% of the region's A routes and more than 45% of B roads are in need of repair.
A spend of just £4,897 per kilometre in 2017/18 by Scottish Borders Council in its role as roads authority compares very unfavourably with the £10,547 per kilometre average recorded by the country's other 31 local authorities. The Borders figure is the second lowest in Scotland and is even below the amount spent in 2013/14 (£5,084).
The LGBF tables reveal 38% of A class roads in Scottish Borders need attention, the fourth highest percentage and well above the 30% average. The position is even more serious for Borders road users when it comes to B routes;46% of those are in need of repair - the second highest proportion in Scotland and a full ten per cent higher than average.
There has also been a fall in the spend per primary and secondary pupil in Borders schools since 2013/14, a trend experienced across Scotland as councils reacted to the impact of public spending austerity.
The figures in this section show SBC spent £4,837 for each primary aged pupil and £6,658 per secondary pupil in 2017/18. Scotland's average sums were £4,974 and £5,014 respectively. Back in 2013/14 Borders expenditure for each primary school child stood at £4,959 while secondary pupils accounted for £6,899 per head.
Information is also available on spending and performance levels across a number of other local government departments including Corporate Services, Adult Social Care, Economic Development and Environmental Services.
A previous article looked at LGBF's data on Culture & Leisure Services which appeared to show low levels of satisfaction with Borders libraries, museums and galleries and sports facilities. SBC has produced its own set of figures which paint a much brighter picture so far as these services are concerned.
SBC devotes 7% of its total running costs on administration - two per centage points higher than the Scottish average of 5%. The gender balance in more senior posts at SBC at 42.6% compares with a Scotland wide level of 54.6%.
The Borders local authority spends far less her house on council tax collection (£4.24) than the national average (£7.35), and has a very impressive 97% collection rate for the tax, ahead of the 96% average.
But according to the LGBF website while SBC is good at collecting cash it is not so keen to part with it. A meagre 78% of invoices were paid on time in 2017/18, the 'worst' percentage in Scotland's local government system where councils averaged 93%.
The number of Borders council buildings deemed to be in satisfactory condition (62%) is the second lowest with an average of 86% of Scottish municipal properties classed as 'satisfactory'. In 2013/14 the Borders figure was 91.6%, way above the average 80.9%.
The Economic Development section shows only 4.2% of unemployed people were assisted into jobs by the SBC service in 2017/18 - Scotland's average was 14.4%.
Borders council was near the top of the league table for efficiency in dealing with planning applications. The average time taken to process and decide an application was 6.7 weeks, the third shortest in Scotland and well ahead of the average 9.3 weeks.
The percentage of procurement spend on locally based small and medium enterprises was 23% in the case of SBC against the median of 27% while the amount of expenditure on economic development and tourism at £43,132 per 1,000 people was far less than average (£91,806).
Numbers of properties in the Scottish Borders receiving super-fast broadband shot up from 30% in 2013/14 to 81%. Scotland's average currently stands at 91%. The number of vacant town centre properties at 12% is the same as the average figure.
The Borders recycles 40% of its household waste compared to a 46% average while the spend of £12,224 per 1,000 people on environmental health is short of the Scottish average (£15,496).
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