Glasgow City Council has halved the number of staff it employs to monitor CCTV cameras in order to cut costs.
The decision, made in February as the council attempted to tackle a £49.3m funding gap, came into force this week.
CCTV will now be monitored for 12, rather than 24, hours a day, with the number of staff cut from 18 to nine.
Union GMB Scotland has urged the council to review the spending cuts, and said the implications were ‘potentially life-threatening’.
GMB’s senior organiser in public services, Keir Greenaway, said: ‘The ability of trained staff to expertly monitor and immediately respond to events unfolding on CCTV is crucial for the emergency services.
‘Now, to save money, that life-saving ability to respond urgently with real-time information on the unfolding situation will be lost for half the day.
‘Being safe on the streets of Scotland’s biggest city should not be a 50/50 lottery and the council should look again at these cuts and ensure the people of Glasgow are properly protected.’
A Glasgow City Council spokeswoman said: ‘The public can be assured that Glasgow’s CCTV cameras will continue to record 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. We continue to work closely with partner agencies and our resources will be targeted at the busiest times.’
The council said there had been no compulsory redundancies, with the number of CCTV monitoring staff reduced through voluntary redundancies, retirement, and ‘vacancy management’.
