News / In brief for 5 July 2011
Seabird failures
SEABIRDS in Shetland are experiencing another disastrous year due to shortages of food, according to the bird charity RSPB.
Guillemots, kittiwakes and arctic terns are three species that are having breeding failures, with many not even bothering to make nests.
A new satellite tracking project has also discovered seabirds from Shetland travelling huge distances to obtain food, with one guillemot tracked flying from Fair Isle to waters off Dundee to return with food.
The project called Future of the Atlantic Marine Environment (FAME) hopes to discover if feeding habits are contributing to the alarming decline in seabird numbers over the past few years.
The lack of food, especially sandeels, is being primarily put down to climate change.
Games celebration
SHETLAND Islands Council is to stage a civic reception next month to celebrate the success of local athletes at the NatWest Island Games in the Isle of Wight.
SIC convener Sandy Cluness said he was “hugely impressed” by the Shetland team’s performance bringing home 15 medals, including seven golds.
Four of these were won by swimmer Andrea Strachan, the best performance from a local competitor in the history of the games.
Local MSP Tavish Scott has tabled a motion in the Scottish Parliament congratulating the team, who came 10th out of 25 islands, and looking forward to a repeat in Bermuda in two years.
Council staff
THE SIC has finally got staffing levels under control, after putting infrastructure executive director Gordon Greenhill in charge of supervising recruitment and vacancies.
Councillors have been told that staffing levels grew by the equivalent of 253 full time workers from March 2007 to March 2011, taking the full complement to 2,776.
The council had actually budgeted for an extra 474 staff between 2006 and this financial year, which would have brought levels up to 3,010. Most of the increases have been in social care.
However in the last year the number of budgeted posts has actually fallen for the very first time by 12 full time equivalents. Only three extra employees have been taken on in the past six months.
Managers warn of the need for “a continued programme of radical service reviews or further efficiency measures” to cut staff further and save cash.
However too few staff can affect morale and health, leading to more days off work, they add
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