Spending Watchdog
I think South Lanarkshire Council is giving me the run around on various issues to do with equal pay - so I've decided to contact the Accounts Commission for Scotland which is the public spending 'watchdog' for all Scottish Councils.
As I see the situation, South Lanarkshire has been operating a 'two tier' pay system for years - one that has been largely 'under the radar' as far as the regulatory authorities, the council's workforce and the wider public are concerned.
I find it hard to believe that South Lanarkshire's pay practices, in years gone by, have been properly and fully disclosed to the Accounts Commission - because if they had, I'm pretty sure the Council's behaviour and its 'risk assessment' in relation to equal pay long before now.
Hence the reason for my letter to Professor John Baillie - who is the Chair of the Accounts Commission for Scotland - so let's see what he and his public spending watchdog have to say about what's been going on
Dear Professor Baillie
South Lanarkshire Council
I would like to draw your attention to an important matter involving public money and the pay arrangements operating within South Lanarkshire Council.
In August of this year, South Lanarkshire Council lost a landmark Freedom of Information appeal at the UK Supreme Court. The case revolved around an FoI request that I raised with the Council in 2010 regarding the pay of traditional and predominantly male Council jobs. The upshot is that the five Supreme Court judges decided, unanimously, that I was entitled to the information requested from the Council and a judgement was issued in my favour on 29 July 2013.
An analysis of this data shows that South Lanarkshire Council has been paying these traditional male jobs at well above the officially declared rate for the job, for many years. In my view, this was a discriminatory act which treated the Council's women workers much less favourably than their male colleagues.
The information now in the public domain, thanks to the UK Supreme Court, has significant implications for South Lanarkshire Council's potential liabilities in respect of equal pay. I know that the Accounts Commission is in regular discussion with Scottish local authorities regarding their exposure to financial risk and that one of the big risk factors, in recent years, has been equal pay and the way in which individual councils have implemented new pay structures.
I suspect that South Lanarkshire Council has been less than open and transparent with the Accounts Commission over the way in which the Council's pay structures have operated for the past 10 years - because I have no doubt that the Accounts Commission would have taken action long ago, if your auditors had been alerted to what has really been going on.
So, in light of the UK Supreme Court decision and information which has come into the public domain since that decision, I am asking the Accounts Commission to carry out an urgent investigation into the way in which South Lanarkshire Council has managed its risk profile in relation to equal pay and the Council's obligations under the 1999 Single Status (Equal Pay) Agreement.
I enclose a copy of a recent FOI Review Request to South Lanarkshire Council regarding its management of financial risk and a copy of a previous letter sent to the Council Leader - Cllr Eddie McAvoy dated 5 August 2013.
If you require any further information from me at any point, my contact details are detailed below.
I look forward to your reply.
Kind regards
Mark Irvine
Mobile - 07947 795 222
Email - markirvine@compuserve.com
