A fly-on-the-wall documentary series starting on Wednesday night will put Fife Council under the spotlight like never before.
As councils across Scotland are facing punishing budget cuts and higher demand for public services, the pressure on them is intense.
With that in mind, the BBC’s new three-part documentary series ‘The Council’ aims to shine a light on the day-to-day goings-on at Scotland’s third largest local authority and follow staff on the frontline.
The programme has been made by IWC Media and is narrated by one of Fife’s most famous sons, Hollywood star Dougray Scott, who is firmly behind the production.
Scott grew up in Glenrothes and has first hand experience of council services at work.
“The Council is an important and enlightening new documentary series,” he said.
“As someone who comes from Fife, it was a pleasure to have been involved in such an authentic, heartfelt and poignant look at life in Scotland today, and I would urge people to watch it.”
The series has been produced and directed by multi-award winning filmmaker Stephen Bennett, who picked up a Scottish BAFTA for Best Single Documentary for ‘Dunblane: Our Story’.
He previously won another Scottish BAFTA a few years ago for a documentary about former soldiers coping with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder entitled ‘The Walking Wounded’.
Wednesday night’s opener promises to show candid staff revealing the highs and lows — including a segment where housing officer Karen goes into an abandoned house in Collydean, jampacked with rubbish and cat filth, with the warning “brace yourself” to the cameraman.
Meanwhile, JP Easton, team leader for community learning and development, works with deprived communities in Glenrothes and has secured a £10,000 grant from the council to make improvements in an area known as Macedonia.
Named after a former estate farm of the Countess of Rothes, three-quarters of the population in the area are unemployed or on benefits.
Mr Easton wants the community to decide how to spend the money to help make the area a little better.
The first episode also sees John and Ian from the roads department in Craigluscar, north of Dunfermline, trying to address the potholes, and harbour master Jim, in Pittenweem, keeping the boat traffic flowing.
And in Methil, occupational therapist Diane needs to find a new house for 60-year-old Motorhead fan Davey who hasn’t been able to leave his upstairs home for over a year.
The Council will be shown on BBC One Scotland from 9pm to 10pm.
