Stupid Is As Stupid Does

I enjoyed this local newspaper article which appeared in the Hamilton Advertiser before Christmas - not least because the piece shows South Lanarkshire Council up in its true colours.

The council says it has to follow the advice of its officials and lawyers - but the plain fact is that the council's senior politicians and advisers have made all the wrong calls - up until now.

Remember this is essentially the same group of people who said the council would not lose the Employment Tribunal case - but they were wrong, of course.

The council leaders then decided to ask for a review of the Employment Tribunal decision - which was subsequently and unanimously refused. 

And, yes, this is the very same 'out of control' council which denied my FOI request regarding the pay of traditional male council jobs - then lost a landmark appeal to the independent Scottish Information Commissioner (SIC).

Only to make itself seem even more ridiculous and foolish when South Lanarkshire Council appealed the SIC ruling to Scotland's highest civil court - the Court of Session - only to have its case thrown out in a unanimous decision by three senior Scottish judges. 

Now the council is appealing the Court of Session judgement to the UK Supreme Court - but my first prediction of 2013 is that South Lanarkshire will lose - again.   

So what the good people of South Lanarkshire ought to be asking - along with their elected councillors is:

'Why should they have any confidence in the judgement of senior politicians and their advisers - when they keep making such a hash of things?'    


`Cough up,' say South Lanarkshire Council workers involved in equal pay fight

by John Rowbotham

South Lanarkshire Council Leader Eddie McAvoy this week admitted he had good friends who were battling the authority over equal pay.

But he said the council had to follow the advice of their officials and lawyers.

And so far, that advice has been to fight on - even though an employment tribunal considering some of the claims ruled that the authority’s job evaluation scheme did not comply with equal pay legislation.

The council asked the tribunal to look again at the issue, but the decision was upheld.

They are now set to challenge the original judgement at an employment appeal tribunal at a date yet to be set.

Nearly 3000 workers and former staff , mostly women, have lodged equal pay claims.

Council McAvoy said under their standing orders, officers had to follow the legal advice they were given.

He added: “We deal with public money and councillors cannot over-rule legal advice without being able to justify it.

“The legal advice we are getting is there is grounds for appeal.

“It could cost millions in a payout and that would be a bigger waste of tax payers’ money if we paid out when we might not need to.

“Many of my good friends are taking action against the council in this, I don’t have any personal opinion on it, but it is good governance to follow the legal advice.”

However, his comments did not find favour with council staff who were in Glasgow on Friday for a case management discussion. Under consideration were dates for future proceedings in cases where claimants say progress can be made.

Gillian Clementson (63), a retired home care worker, said: “I think the council have got their blinkers on, to be honest. They just don’t want to pay out.

“They have taken it this far and are frightened to admit they have got it wrong.”

Carolann Murdoch (52), who worked as a catering manager for the council between 2004 and 2007, said she and many other claimants remain completely confident of victory. “I would like to see it wrapped up in the new year,” she added.

“I think there will be a settlement before spring.”

Many of the 2777 workers with cases are still employed at the council, and one of them, a care worker from Uddingston, said: “It’s time for the council to pay out instead of dragging this on, especially when it is the taxpayer paying for it.

“The council do not like to be seen as the baddie but this is just shattering their image.

“They are a reasonable employer to work for but they need to get this dealt with.”

Solicitor Carole Fox, of Fox Cross Solicitors, who is representing the claimants, reiterated her call for officials to step in and end the dispute.

She said: “The council are losing every legal argument. Who is making these decisions; who is wasting all this taxpayers money?

“We understand the politicians have delegated to the paid officials who have in turn delegated to the legal advisors, and their legal advice is clearly not working.

“We would call on the politicians and officials to take ownership of this issue and get it sorted.”

Ms Fox also warned the problem would “just get bigger” with unions now lodging claims.

She also said many male workers in traditionally “female” jobs may have claims in the future.