East Lothian: Community centres plagued by staffing crisis

Port Seton Centre bosses confirmed on social media last week that they were forced into the move after falling below 50 per cent staffing.

A combination of outstanding vacancies and illness were the root cause of the issue.

Last month, it was announced that the centre was already trialling reduced hours twice a week, with community leaders worrying about the “detrimental” effect this would have on those who rely on the centre.

Business continuity mode is an agreement that enables a team or service to focus on essential activities due to extreme challenges such as staffing shortages or other significant resource issues.

It allows facilities such as the Port Seton Centre to continue operating while on a reduced capacity enforced by staff numbers or other factors.

East Lothian Council is yet to confirm what this will exactly entail, but reductions in services and opening hours are likely.

A spokesperson for the centre said: “The community centre has entered business continuity mode as we are now below 50 per cent of our staffing.

“This is due to sickness and vacancies impacted by the new process for approving vacant posts during the recruitment freeze.

“Please bear with the team, who are working as hard as they can to meet the community needs. We apologise that there may need to be some additional centre closures. We are working hard to minimise these.”

However, the local authority also confirmed that the ongoing problems are affected by a “recruitment freeze” implemented as part of urgent measures to reduce the council’s estimated overspend of £14.6m this financial year.

The council says that the freeze does not mean it is not hiring new staff members but has resulted in certain roles being prioritised over others.

Council officials also confirmed to the Courier that the Pennypit Centre, Prestonpans, had also entered business continuity mode.

An East Lothian Council spokesperson added: “Absences within the Port Seton Centre, combined with a number of vacancies, means that the facility is running with a significantly reduced number of staff. This impacts on the team’s ability to operate within the current opening hours and to provide full services.

“The centre team is working with the management committee on revised opening arrangements with the numbers of staff available. We hope to share these with the community soon.

“The Pennypit Centre is also operating within business continuity mode due to pressures and the team will continue to provide updates to the community.

“While we cannot confirm at this stage when the issues will be resolved, we understand how valued the centres are and will be working towards full service as soon as we can within the current financial context.”