Compare and Contrast
Compare and contrast - the way Scottish councils treat their chief officials - against the fight that women workers face to achieve equal pay. Here's a letter - from yours truly - that was published yesterday in The Herald newspaper.
Dear Sir
Local Government Pay
The present chief executive of Glasgow City Council is a fine public servant, as was his predecessor, but the annual salary paid to his post (£158,000 excluding pension benefits) masks a worrying trend within Scottish local government.
A formula is used to determine the pay of council chief executives (and effectively the pay of other chief officers) which is based on various factors including council size, council population, council budget and the number of council employees.
Hardly rocket science, but the fact is that this old formula is no longer fit for purpose and needs to be reviewed to reflect today’s very different circumstances.
For example, since the current arrangements were introduced many years ago, Glasgow City Council has transferred much of its housing function to the Glasgow Housing Association. The city’s culture and leisure services have been placed in a new charitable trust (Glasgow Culture and Leisure) and the council is also now divesting itself of Direct and Care services, which means that another 8,000 jobs (and a massive budget) will move outside of Glasgow City Council’s direct control.
So, pay arrangements for chief executives and other senior council officials are in dire need a reality check. A never ending upward spiral in salaries is plainly ridiculous, especially when many key jobs have downsized so dramatically.
The other side of the coin is that while mainstream local government posts are arguably being cushioned (in pay terms) from the drive towards externalisation, new successor bodies are creating additional senior posts hand over fist.
Cordia (Glasgow’s rebranded Direct and Care), for example, will recruit a new chief executive, a new director of finance, a new director of human resources etc. – all at the expense of the hard-pressed tax payer.
Maybe the cure is worse than the problem.
Yours sincerely
Mark Irvine
Dear Sir
Local Government Pay
The present chief executive of Glasgow City Council is a fine public servant, as was his predecessor, but the annual salary paid to his post (£158,000 excluding pension benefits) masks a worrying trend within Scottish local government.
A formula is used to determine the pay of council chief executives (and effectively the pay of other chief officers) which is based on various factors including council size, council population, council budget and the number of council employees.
Hardly rocket science, but the fact is that this old formula is no longer fit for purpose and needs to be reviewed to reflect today’s very different circumstances.
For example, since the current arrangements were introduced many years ago, Glasgow City Council has transferred much of its housing function to the Glasgow Housing Association. The city’s culture and leisure services have been placed in a new charitable trust (Glasgow Culture and Leisure) and the council is also now divesting itself of Direct and Care services, which means that another 8,000 jobs (and a massive budget) will move outside of Glasgow City Council’s direct control.
So, pay arrangements for chief executives and other senior council officials are in dire need a reality check. A never ending upward spiral in salaries is plainly ridiculous, especially when many key jobs have downsized so dramatically.
The other side of the coin is that while mainstream local government posts are arguably being cushioned (in pay terms) from the drive towards externalisation, new successor bodies are creating additional senior posts hand over fist.
Cordia (Glasgow’s rebranded Direct and Care), for example, will recruit a new chief executive, a new director of finance, a new director of human resources etc. – all at the expense of the hard-pressed tax payer.
Maybe the cure is worse than the problem.
Yours sincerely
Mark Irvine
