Abuse against RBWM and Slough workers quadruples in recent years

The number of assaults against RBWM and Slough staff and contractors has increased four-fold in the past two-to-three years.

The news comes on the heels of controversy surrounding a viral video of a man verbally abusing and behaving in a threatening manner towards two RBWM council workers two weeks ago.

The workers were tasked with removing St George’s flags from a public space in Highfield Lane, Cox Green.

They are angrily confronted by a man who demands the removed flags be given to him.

Footage of the abuse has been widely shared across the web and police are currently investigating.

Since then, a contractor has ‘declined’ to remove St George’s and Union flags in the Royal Borough, because of the ‘serious threats’ workers have faced.

Slough workers, too, faced verbal abuse as a result of removing a flag from a lamppost recently.

Meanwhile, data looking at abuse aimed at council staff shows an increasing trend for both local authorities.

Data from an FOI request* shows that from 2022/23 to now, the number of reported incidents in RBWM jumped considerably – more than four times as many.

The largest jump actually occurred last year, in 2023/24. It is not a high number – 13 incidents that year, and 10 so far this year.

But it is a big jump up compared to the number of reported incidents two-to-three years ago, when there were only three incidents of assault reported.

This past year, most assault incidents were classed as ‘aggressive behaviour/verbal’ rather than physical, and happened in person rather than over the phone.

The council team receiving the most abuse was the housing and environmental health team.

This team deals with temporary housing and the housing register, as well as environmental complaints linked to housing, such as noise and pests.

However, there has been no increase specifically in physical assaults and resultant injuries.

The number of reported injuries on the job has remained stable across the past few years – seven this year so far, and six for the two previous years.

Moreover, this year, only one of these injuries was marked as being a result of physically abusive behaviour.

An RBWM council spokesperson said: “Council colleagues should be able to carry out their roles, to support and deliver services to communities, without fear of abuse and aggression.

“Abuse towards our colleagues, or anyone employed by our contractors, is completely unacceptable. We take any incidents very seriously and will always report these to the police.”

Over in Slough, the picture is much the same – a four-fold rise in assaults, though the overall numbers are much higher.

The other significant difference between Slough and RBWM is that its biggest jump occurred this year, rather than last year.

From 2022/23, the number rose from 10 incidents to 13, then to 38 in 2024/25.

Because of abuse towards its refuse collectors, at times Slough council has had to withdraw collection crews from certain areas – leaving their neighbours without a bin collection.

Read more about Slough’s situation here.

• *This data was collected through FOIs sent to 150 local authorities across England by Legal Expert: www.legalexpert.co.uk/accident-at-work-claims