Isles come top in new Scottish ‘Broken Britain’ index
SHETLAND is the “least broken” area of Scotland when it comes to public and essential services, according to research.
The Broken Britain Index project examined services like healthcare, education, roads and crime.
It looked at indicators like healthcare waiting times, National 5 grades, shoplifting rates and food security.
Shetland came first on the list in Scotland, followed by Renfrewshire and the Highlands.
The research is not a complete look at public services, given it does not explore other elements like childcare, social care, public transport, refuse collection or environmental measures.
But Shetland Islands Council leader Emma Macdonald said it was positive to see the isles in top place.
“I think it does show how we invest heavily in our services above the level we are funded for,” she said.
“The use of our reserves allows us to invest more money in providing really good services to our community but as we know our reserves need to be carefully managed to be sustainable.
“Our workforce will be our biggest challenge as we move forward and we know that if we want to sustain our services to be good quality then we need to make changes.”
Keep Shetland’s news open to everyone
Your membership helps us report the stories that matter to Shetland — and keep them free for everyone to read.
