Hiding Your True Colours
The recent intervention by COSLA in the Scottish election campaign - see post dated 13 April 2011: 'Where's the Beef' - prompted me to re-visit what I had to say last month about councillors pay.
At that time COSLA gave the impression - in public at least - that the the Convention was leading from the front on pay restraint - setting a good example for others to follow.
Yet the reality is rather different - as the following post from 17 March demonstrates: 'Public Posturing Over Pay'.
COSLA's position is that all councillors should receive a minimum salary of £25,000 a year - which would mean a 54% increase for just 'backbench' councillors.
The Convention also believes that senior councillors deserve the same salary as Holyrood MSPs - who currently receive £56, 671 a year.
How can you take an organisation like COSLA seriously - when it hides its true colours in this way?
Public Posturing Over Pay - 17 March 2011
Recent reports in the press suggest that COSLA (Convention of Scottish Local Authorities) has been urging a policy of pay restraint - selflessness even - on the subject of councillors' pay.
Yet a closer look at an independent report on councillors remuneration - which is available on the Scottish government's web site - gives the game away.
In the section entitled - Evidence from COSLA - the following statements appear:
3.41 COSLA questioned whether the current salary was pitched at the right level given the level of responsibility placed on councillors and the range of competencies and skills required to do their job effectively......A senior councillor role was more demanding that that of a backbench MSP. They (COSLA) maintained their assertion that the level of salary should be linked to that of MSPs.
3.42 They (COSLA) did not consider it appropriate to link their pay scales to those of local government staff since councillors set the levels of pay increase for local government staff. They (COSLA) considered a basic salary of up to £25,000 would be fair recognising the difficult financial climate...
So there we have it in black and white - COSLA believes that senior councillors should be paid on a par with MSPs (currently £56,671) - and that even a basic, backbench councillor should be paid £25,000 a year.
How does that square with their public statements about pay restraint?
Because what seems to be happening is that COSLA is saying one in public - but behind closed doors is happy to make a case for a minimum salary of £25,000 a year - which would represent a whopping 54% increase in the present salary level of £16,234.
