Bonus Culture

The Sunday Herald performed a public service yesterday - by revealing the details of secret bonus payments - made to the most senior officials in North Lanarkshire Council.

Paul Hutcheon - the newspaper's investigations editor - has used Scotland's Freedom of Information legislation - to expose these controversial payments - which are a scandal to my mind.

And predictably North Lanarkshire Council fought tooth and nail - to keep the details under wraps.

I will have more to say on this later today - because I imagine the news will make people's blood boil in North Lanarkshire - especially those who have been fighting for equal pay all these years.

But in the meantime - here's a copy of the article from the Sunday Herald. 

Revealed: £200,000 bonuses council tried to keep quiet

A cash-strapped local authority has failed in its attempt to block the release of documents detailing nearly £200,000 in bonus-style payments to senior staff.

North Lanarkshire forced to reveal details of staff’s performance-related top-ups

North Lanarkshire Council was forced to publish the income top-ups of employees already earning six-figure sums after being ordered to release the information.

John Wilson, an SNP MSP for Central Scotland, said the disclosure was a victory for "open and transparent government".

The council, which has cut services in recent years, is one of the last Scottish authorities to hand out "performance-related pay" (PRP) to nearly 30 senior officers as part of their salary package.

In January last year, the Sunday Herald asked for the exact payments made to each staff member in 2010, a request that was knocked back.

The dispute then reached the office of the Scottish Information Commissioner.

In its submission, the council argued that exact PRP had privacy issues for the individuals concerned and would reveal information about performance.

However, the commissioner rejected this view and ordered disclosure: "There is a general interest in ensuring that public authorities are transparent and accountable in relation to the way they spend public money, and this extends to understanding how much money is paid to senior officers of the council on top of their salary."

The information, which has now been released by the council, shows that 29 staff scooped approximately £184,000 in extra payments.

The biggest winner was chief executive Gavin Whitefield, who received £12,050 on top of his £136,848 salary.

Five executive directors, earning £113,250 in salary, received more than £9000 each, as did assistant chief executive John Ellerby.

More than 20 heads of service, earning between £77,166 and £85,761, each took home PRP of approximately £4000 to £6000.

The commissioner also ordered the council to release the names of everyone who assessed the payments.

Some awards were presided over by the CEO, the assistant chief executive, or one of the five executive directors. All seven of these senior officers received PRP themselves.

At the same time as paying bonuses to senior officers, the council has shed jobs, cut services and frozen the pay of the workforce.

Wilson said: "The decision to instruct North Lanarkshire Council to release the PRP awards for senior council officials is another victory for open and transparent government.

"The fact that these officials continue to receive PRP at a time when ordinary staff salaries are not only being frozen, but they are also facing cuts in their hours or redundancy, is a scandal."

A spokesman for North Lanarkshire Council said: "In relation to performance-related pay, it is incorrect to describe this as a bonus on top of normal salary. A proportion of chief officers' contractual salary is assessed against specific objectives and an award made accordingly.

"The decision the council took some time ago was based on an honest assessment of balancing access to information with data protection requirements about personal information.