WARRINGTON Borough Council has received 177 reports of assault and abuse against its workers in the past three years, according to new figures.
Workplace injury claim specialists Legal Expert found that 61 abusive incidents happened in the year ending in March. While this actually marks a decrease on the 92 cases reported by employees and contractors in 2023/24, the numbers remain shocking, they say.
Across three years, 90 of the attacks were physical in nature, while 87 were verbal.
The year 2023/24 saw a worrying spike in cases. The 50 physical attacks were more than three times the number seen the year before, while verbal assault increased almost fivefold to 42 incidents.
Last year, 25 workers reported being physically attacked, while there were 36 cases noted as verbal assault.
GMB National Officer Kevin Brandstatter said: “The level of verbal and physical abuse suffered by GMB members employed at local authorities is horrifying.
“These are front-line workers, not well paid – but they’re left to deal with aggression from the public frustrated by decisions made by their council.
“GMB members are left to deal with angry tenants needing repairs to council housing, motorists raging about a parking ticket and furious parents complaining about the treatment of their children at school.
Employers have a duty of care and must make sure their workers are safe.
“GMB recognises how serious this issue is.”
Overall, the borough council told Legal Expert 265 workers suffered some form of physical injury over the past three years.
The Association for Public Service Excellence reported last year that four out of five councillors said that “members, officers or other staff” had experienced intimidation or harassment.
Legal Expert approached more than 150 local authorities in England and found that each of them recorded cases of abuse against staff.
Legal Expert solicitor Patrick Mallon explained the importance of the duty of care, saying: “Every employer in this country owes their employees a legal duty of care. This means they must do everything that’s reasonably practicable to keep workers safe.
“That includes reasonable protection against injuries through assault. If a local authority fails to take realistic measures to ensure employees are protected, they’ve failed to uphold their legal duty.
“Not every incident can be predicted or prevented. However, every employee has the right to ask if more could have been done for them and to seek legal advice if they were let down.”
A Warrington Borough Council spokesperson said: “Every member of our staff deserves to feel safe and respected at work, and we take any form of abuse – verbal or otherwise –
extremely seriously. The figures highlight the challenges faced by frontline staff who are committed to serving our communities. We continue to work closely with teams across the council to ensure robust reporting mechanisms are in place, working closely with our Trade Union colleagues to ensure we have high quality health and safety arrangements, and ensuring we can provide support to any staff affected. Abuse of any kind is unacceptable, and we urge members of the public to treat council staff with the courtesy and dignity they deserve.”
