Glasgow - Compare and Contrast
I travelled by train from Glasgow to Edinburgh before Christmas on a day when the service was disrupted for some ill-explained reason.
Now this was not the biggest hassle in the world, I have to admit, yet I was still pleased to see Nicola Sturgeon speaking up for passengers with the her subsequent comments in the media.
Nicola Sturgeon branded the number of cancellations and delays to ScotRail services in recent weeks as "unacceptable".
The first minister said travellers deserved better and that the public was owed an apology for a series of problems on Scotland's rail network.
Good for her, I said to myself at the time, although I went on to wonder why Nicola and other Glasgow MSPs have had so little to say on behalf of their local constituents about the fight for equal pay in Glasgow which everyone knows has been raging since 2007.
Now I never for a minute expected SNP MSPs to launch a full scale attack on Glasgow City Council, not least because the council is SNP-led these days.
But Glasgow's MSPs have had virtually nothing to say about the Council's WPBR pay scheme for years, or its preposterous 37-hour rule which discriminates against the Council's largely female workforce, or the FOI battle to uncover the truth about the way in which the WPBR was introduced back in 2007.
So if an equal pay settlement in Glasgow is not delivered, as promised, in the days ahead I expect the city's politicians will come under pressure as never before to speak up and explain where they stand on an issue which they have been studiously avoiding for the past 12 years.
Bravehearts vs Wee, Sleekit Cow'rin, Tim'rous Beasties (21/07/18)
I shared yesterday's posts (No 'Mean' City and Daylight is the best disinfectant) with all Glasgow councillors, as well as the city's constituency MSPs and MPs - 100 local politicians in total.
Now I haven't exactly been bowled over by the response, so far at least, but once the holiday period is over there will be a concerted effort to engage with key politicians across Glasgow including the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, who represents Glasgow Southside.
Because August/September is going to be a crucial period in the fight for equal pay in Scotland's largest council - and the city's Councillors, MSPs and MPs are going to have to decide which side they are on.
Do they stand alongside senior officials with their 'golden goodbyes' and discriminatory 37-hour 'rules' - or do they stand with the council's low paid workers who have been fighting for their rights to equal pay for the past 12 years.
In other words, are they Bravehearts when it comes to equal pay or wee, sleekit cow'rin, tim'rous beasties?
Glasgow - No 'Mean' City (20/07/18)
Here is my letter to Glasgow City Council regarding the chief executive's decision to make a parting gift of £120,079 to the council's outgoing director of finance, so that this fellow senior official could access her pension early.
I have written to Scotland's public spending watchdog, Audit Scotland, asking that the circumstances surrounding this payment be investigated as a matter of urgency, as well as the absence of proper records to explain how the council's chief executive, Annemarie O'Donnell, justified her decision and this extraordinary use of public money.
I suppose you could say that when it comes to looking after the interests of its most senior council officials, Glasgow really is No 'Mean' City.
11 July 2018
Dear Ms Forrest
Glasgow City Council - Vital Records Policy
I refer to your letter dated 21 June 2018 in which you confirmed that Glasgow's chief executive, Annemarie O'Donnell, made the decision to 'gift' the sum of £120,079 to the City Council's finance director, Lynn Brown, so that Ms Brown could access her local government pension early.
Your response to my FOI request failed to explain the basis on which this decision was made by the chief executive and your letter went on to state that the Council does not hold any information to clarify how the City Council approved the expenditure (e.g. via a council committee) of such a large sum of public money.
In my view, it is inconceivable that Scotland's largest council can have no audit trail to explain the process by which this decision was reached and how the money involved was released to the Strathclyde Pension Fund (SPF).
As a result, I have now raised my concerns with the Scottish Information Commissioner (SIC) and, in doing so, I have drawn the Commissioner's attention to Glasgow City Council's Vital Records Policy which states, inter alia:
"The Council is committed to ensuring that all Vital Records, regardless of their format, are identified, managed appropriately and that appropriate business continuity and backup measures are put in place in order to protect critical information relating to the Council, its critical functions and its reputation"
"This policy was approved by the Information Advisory Board and has been issued as a binding Procedural Rule by the Director of Governance and Solicitor to the Council, in terms of the Council's scheme of delegated functions"
As a Glasgow citizen and council tax payer, I am minded to raise a formal complaint with the relevant authorities about the probity and governance issues surrounding this payment, as I believe the absence of proper records may constitute a serious breach of the City Council's Vital Records Policy.
What I don't understand is how this could have happened when the decision involved the council's most senior official (Annemarie O'Donnell), its director of finance and the principal adviser to the Strathclyde Pension Fund (Lynn Brown), as well as a binding Procedural Rule laid down by the Director of Governance and Solicitor to the Council (Carole Forrest).
Can I ask, therefore, if you have already taken steps to alert the Council's internal and external auditors to the absence of information which explains how Annemarie O'Donnell arrived at her decision, and how the Council approved significant expenditure which amounted to a 'gift' of £120,079 to one of its most senior officials?
I look forward to your reply which I hope will be speedy, given the circumstances, and would be grateful if you could respond to me by email at:markirvine@compuserve.com
Mark Irvine
Director of Governance and Solicitor to the Council
Carole Forrest LLB DipLP
Glasgow City Council
City Chambers George Square Glasgow G2 1DU
Hand Deliveries to: 40 John Street Glasgow G1 1JL
Our Ref: 6619148 Your Ref:
21.06.18
By email:
Dear Mr Irvine
REQUEST FOR REVIEW UNDER THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) ACT 2002
I refer to your email of 22.05.18 which I am treating as a formal request for review of Glasgow City Council’s (“the Council”) failure to respond to your initial request for information dated 20.04.18.
On behalf of the Council, I apologise that you did not receive a response to your initial request for information. You should have received a response within the 20 working day timescales set out in the legislation and I apologise that on this occasion you did not.
YOUR REQUEST
You requested the following information:
“1) Please provide me the name and job title of the Council official who recommended that Glasgow City Council should pay £120,079 to compensate the Local Government Pension Scheme for allowing the Council's former executive Director of Finance, Lynn Brown, to access her pension benefits early?
2) Please provide me with the written explanation for this recommendation and the process by which the expenditure of this large sum of public money approved?
3) Please confirm how long the former Executive Director of Finance would otherwise have had to wait to access her pension benefits, if it were not for this generous use of public funds?”
THE REVIEW DECISION
I can confirm that the Council is treating your request for this information under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOI).
The responses to the information requested are as follows:
1) Annemarie O'Donnell, Chief Executive
2) On inspecting our records, it would appear that Glasgow City Council does not hold the information which you have requested. Neither does anyone else hold it on our behalf. Therefore this information would be exempt under Section 17 of the Act. Accordingly we are unable to comply with your request.
3) We are unable to provide you with the details of how long the former ExecutiveDirector of Finance would otherwise have had to wait before being able to access her pension benefits. This information is, in our opinion, exempt from a request under Part 1 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 because of the exemption contained in section 38(1)(b) of the Act. In other words, in our opinion disclosure of the information would contravene any of the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the GDPR. If we provided you with this information, it may be possible to identify Lynn Brown’s age and therefore, we will not disclose this information. By way of assistance, all Council employees can ask to take early retirement from the age of 55.
Please note that the information provided in response to your request is, unless otherwise indicated, copyright © Glasgow City Council 2018. It is supplied to you in terms of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. Any further use by you of this information must comply with the terms of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 as amended and/or the Copyright and Rights in Databases Regulations 1997. In particular, any commercial use or re-use of the information provided requires the prior written consent of the Council.
If you require further clarification please e-mail me at FOIreviews@glasgow.gov.uk and I will ensure that the matter is reviewed.
RIGHT OF APPEAL
I hope you are satisfied with this response. However, if you are not you have the right to make an application within six months of receipt of this letter for a decision by the Scottish Information Commissioner.
The Scottish Information Commissioner can be contacted as follows:
Kinburn Castle, Doubledykes Road, St Andrews, KY16 9DS.
01334 464610
You can also use the Scottish Information Commissioner’s online appeal service to make an
application for a decision: www.itspublicknowledge.info/appealThereafter a decision by Scottish Information Commissioner may be appealed on a point of law to the Court of Session.
Yours sincerely
CAROLE FORREST
DIRECTOR OF GOVERNANCE AND SOLICITOR TO THE COUNCIL
DIRECTOR OF GOVERNANCE AND SOLICITOR TO THE COUNCIL
Glasgow - 'Daylight is the best disinfectant' (20/07/18)
Here's a link to the Evening Times article on the parting 'gift' of £120,079 to a very senior council official so that she could access her pension early.
Now every council employee reaching 55 years of age has the right to request early retirement, but each application has to be considered on its merits and there is certainly no entitlement for a person to have their pension 'topped up' in the way that appears to have happened here.
The fact that this request involved the council's chief executive (Annemarie O'Donnell) and former finance director (Lynn Brown) demands even greater scrutiny than normal if you ask me, yet so far at least the council has been unable or unwilling to explain exactly what happened.
So I hope that the Scottish Information Commissioner and Audit Scotland will help shine a light on things and persuade the council to explain the basis of this extraordinary £120,079 payment.
http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/16366922.equal-pay-campaigner-mark-irvine-quizzes-council-over-120000-retiral-payment/
Equal pay campaigner Mark Irvine quizzes council over £120,000 retiral payment
By Catriona Stewart @LadyCatHT - The Evening Times
Glasgow City Chambers
EQUAL pay campaigner Mark Irvine is demanding answers from council bosses over a £120,000 payment made after the early retiral of a senior official.
Glasgow City Council's well respected finance director Lynn Brown was granted early retiral in 2016 after 13 years in post.
In order to allow her to go, the council paid a lump sum of £120,079 to Strathclyde Pension Fund, which would have been approved by chief executive Annmarie O'Donnell.
But, following a request made under Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation, the council has failed to provide the paper trail for sanctioning the payment.
Mr Irvine is the solicitor behind the Action 4 Equality Scotland campaign to secure equal pay compensation for thousands of low paid female workers.
He said: "Glasgow's chief executive, Annemarie O'Donnell, is the highest paid local government official in Scotland, but this latest debacle makes the city look completely ridiculous - small businesses and local corner shops in Glasgow operate to higher standards.
"The generosity shown towards a senior council colleague is quite extraordinary and impossible to justify.
"Low paid workers in other parts of the council don't enjoy this kind of treatment and it's a terrible insult to those who have been fighting for their rights to equal pay for the past 12 years."
